Employee Benefits
Health Benefits
Holidays
The Town of Fountain Hills recognizes the following days as paid holidays:
- New Year's Day, January 1
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 3rd Monday in January
- President's Day, 3rd Monday in February
- Memorial Day, last Monday in May
- Independence Day, July 4
- Labor Day, 1st Monday in September
- Veteran’s Day, November 11
- Thanksgiving Day, 4th Thursday in November
- Friday after Thanksgiving
- Christmas Day, December 25
Basic Life Insurance
As a full-time employee of the Town of Fountain Hills, you have a 1 times your annual salary basic life and accidental death coverage, up to a maximum of $150,000. The Town of Fountain Hills provides this benefit to full-time employees at no cost.
Voluntary Life Insurance
The Town of Fountain Hills offers a supplemental life insurance plan, which is designed to allow you to choose the amount of coverage you need and to pay for it conveniently through payroll deduction.
Employee coverage costs are calculated on age and amount of insurance elected.
Retirement Plan
The Town of Fountain Hills does not deduct Social Security taxes from full-time benefited employees’ paychecks. The Town does not participate in the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS), instead, the Town has a mandatory 401A Retirement Plan. This plan is administered by ICMA Retirement Corporation (ICMARC).
Eligible employees contribute 11% of their gross pay to their retirement account. Employee contributions are not subject to federal and state taxes and may grow tax deferred until paid out, when they will be taxable as ordinary income. All employee contributions are 100% vested.
The Town of Fountain Hills will also contribute 11% of the eligible employee’s gross pay. These contributions are subject to a vesting schedule as follows:
| Years of Vesting Service | % Vested |
|---|---|
| 1 year of service | 20% |
| 2 years of service | 40% |
| 3 years of service | 60% |
| 4 years of service | 80% |
| 5 years of service | 100% |
Deferred Compensation Plan
The Town of Fountain Hills also provides an optional deferred compensation plan to all employees. Employees become eligible on their first day of employment. This plan is administered by ICMA Retirement Corporation. Employee contributions are not subject to federal and state taxes and may grow tax deferred until paid out, when they will be taxable as ordinary income. All employee contributions are 100% vested. There is no employer match of contributions.
Our plan allows you to increase, decrease, stop or restart contributions as often as you wish, without fees or penalties.
Sick Leave
All full-time and regularly scheduled employees are eligible to earn sick leave for paid-status hours. Full-time employees accrue sick leave at a rate of 4.0 hours biweekly, assuming they are in a paid-status. Eligible regularly-scheduled part-time Town employees accrue sick leave at a rate proportionate to the accrual rate of full-time employees based on their paid status hours and may carry over hours, subject to the caps on accumulation of sick leave. Accumulation of sick leave shall not exceed 1040 hours at any time.
Upon retirement, full- and part-time, regularly scheduled employees with 10+ years of continuous service will qualify for a payout of fifty percent of their available accrued sick leave hours at their regular rate of pay upon separation of service.
Paid sick time is also available to all part-time non-regularly scheduled, temporary or seasonal employees at an accrual rate of one (1) hour of sick leave for every thirty (30) hours worked. Up to forty (40) hours of accrued and unused sick leave may be carried over. The Town limits use and accrual of sick leave under this policy to forty (40) hours per calendar year.
Detailed information regarding eligibility for sick leave and accumulation rates is available from Human Resources.
Tuition Assistance
The Town of Fountain Hills encourages employees to further their development and skills through continuing education. Full-time employees who meet eligibility requirements will be reimbursed for approved courses from a US Department of Education accredited school, college or university. The maximum tuition reimbursement is $5,250 per fiscal year and is subject to the availability of Town funds.
Tuition reimbursement is available to eligible employees pursuing advanced education in a field which is directly related to their duties performed for the Town.
For more information about eligibility and conditions, please contact Human Resources.
Vacation
All full and regularly-scheduled eligible part-time employees accrue vacation leave based on length of employment with the Town and is proportionate to hours worked. Accrued but unused vacation leave hours will be paid at the employee's regular hourly rate upon separation of employment. No more than the maximum allowable accrual of vacation leave is compensable upon separation of employment.
Vacation accrual rates and overall maximums for eligible employees (based on 40 hour work-week) are depicted in the chart below.
| Length of Service |
Maximum Hours Per Pay Period / Year |
Overall Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Start date through completion of 3rd year |
4.0 / 104 |
208 |
| 4th year through completion of 7th year |
5.0 / 130 |
260 |
| 8th year through completion of 10th year |
6.0 / 156 |
312 |
| 11th year through completion of 15th year |
7.0 / 182 |
364 |
| 16+ years |
8.0 / 208 |
416 |