An Overview of Federal and GSA Benefits¶
FedRAMP is a part of the General Services Administration (GSA), an independent agency within the executive branch. GSA's Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM) is subject to government-wide human resources policies set by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Understanding complex bureaucracy is a key skill for working at FedRAMP!
This page has a lot of information to help you get started understanding the benefits available to folks in the FedRAMP Cybersecurity Service, but it's just the tip of the iceberg.
If you find your eyes glazing over as you read through this overview, you might not be a great fit for a team that focuses entirely on nuanced implementation of law, policy, and technical systems.
Federal Benefits¶
These benefits are standardized across the federal government:
- Health Insurance: The government pays approximately 75% of your premium.
- Thrift Savings Plan (TSP): Works just like a 401k with up to 5% employer matching.
- Paid Leave: 13 days of sick leave, 11 federal holidays, and annual leave ranging from 13 days (0-3 years service) to 26 days (15+ years service).
- Retirement: FERS pension plan starts at Day 1, but it will take 5 years of service before it activates so folks may need to request a return on investment from OPM if they leave federal service after 2 years.
- Other: Life insurance, dental/vision, and flexible spending accounts.
GSA Benefits¶
GSA offers additional benefits, especially at GSA Headquarters (currently at 1900 E ST NW, Washington DC), including:
- A general Transit Subsidy Program covers $200+ of your qualifying monthly commute on public transit.
- We're in a convenient location downtown that is only a ten minute walk from all metro lines with plenty of access to lunch and coffee within a short walk. The White House and the National Mall are only a couple blocks away.
- Google Workspace is GSA's core enterprise collaboration platform and it makes working at GSA feel a bit more like a private company and a bit less like a big enterprise. We often have to email documents back and forth with other agencies but inside GSA we are always working in Google Docs.
FedRAMP Team Benefits¶
FedRAMP employees are not allowed to work more than 40 hours per week!
We do not provide overtime or comp-time, so we encourage the use of flexible schedules to offset unexpectedly long (or short) days. No one will ever expect you to work more than 40 hours a week at FedRAMP.
Employees of FedRAMP have some additional benefits that we have standardized for our team, including:
- Maximum Flexibility Work Schedules allow the FedRAMP team considerable flexibility in when we work instead of the standard 5x8 hour work days. Many teammates work 9 hours on most days so they can take an extra day off every 2 weeks.
- Situational Telework is available for FedRAMP positions when employees have critical work but are unable to come into the office for various reasons.
- High-performing devices are critical for the FedRAMP team, and all engineering staff are issued a lightly managed MacBook Pro (though it might be an older M1). Typical government-furnished equipment (GFE) is slow and bloated without any options for customizations but our engineering machines are generally fast and reliable. This might not seem like a benefit but it's awesome not to wait 20min for your laptop to boot up or have it run out of battery in 30min. ;)
- Chill vibes and casual dress are an important part of our team culture. No one will expect you to wear a suit, though you're welcome to wear what you like within reasonable boundaries (we aren't quite flip-flops and shorts forward at GSA but your boss won't call you out on it).