U.S. Department of State

Sick Leave

Sick leave is accrued at a rate of 4 hours per pay period or 13 days per leave year.

Administrative Leave

Twenty (20) days of administrative leave per annum will be given to every employee. This leave does not roll over, it must be used or you will lose it.

Annual Leave

• 4 hours per pay period or 13 days per leave year for less than 3 years of federal service
• 6 hours per pay period or 20 days per leave year after 3 years of federal service but less than 15 years
• 8 hours per pay period or 26 days per leave year after 15 years of federal service

Paid U.S.G. Holiday Schedule

• New Year's Day (January 1)
• Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Third Monday in January)
• Washington's Birthday (Third Monday in February)
• Memorial Day (Last Monday in May)
• Independence Day (July 4)
• Labor Day (First Monday in September)
• Columbus Day (Second Monday in October)
• Veterans Day (November 11)
• Thanksgiving Day (Fourth Thursday in November)
• Christmas Day (December 25)

Travel Benefits

• Rest and Recuperation Break (R&R)

  You will be provided transportation back to your home of record for this break. Each break is 22 days long, including travel time. Individuals may be required to visit Washington, D.C. during these breaks to address certain administrative issues.

• Regional Rest Breaks (RRBs)

  Employees will be authorized to Regional Rest Breaks, wherein each employee is allowed air transportation to a country within the region for a quick break, and will receive five days paid administrative leave. You can take up to seven (7) days, including travel time. The State Department will provide a round-trip ticket to Dubai.

There are two options for taking leave on your R&R or RRB:
A) Three (3) Rest and Recuperation Breaks
OR
B) Two (2) Rest and Recuperation and three (3) Regional Rest Breaks

Other Benefits

• Unaccompanied Air Baggage (UAB)

  Employees are authorized 250 pounds unaccompanied air baggage (UAB). Assigned personnel going to Kabul are entitled to two checked bags. Travelers will not be reimbursed for excess weight fees for baggage. Travelers need to ensure all bags are under the posted weight limits for each individual airline.

Compensation

Under this appointment, you will receive post differentials and allowances in accordance with State Department regulations. You will receive danger and foreign post differential, currently each at 35% on top of your base salary. After 42 days, the post differential will be payable back to the first day.

Example: If your base salary is $100,000, you take $100,000 x 0.70 (danger and post differential) = $70,000. Add $70,000 the base of $100,000 and your total salary is $170,000. The 2011 Premium Pay Cap is $227,300. This is the total of your base pay and your premium pay items (overtime, night differential, holiday premium pay and Sunday differential).

The positions are categorized as follows and salary information represents pay year 2011 data:

• Family Employment Health Benefits Plans

  Under the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, employees are eligible to enroll in a wide variety of health insurance plans, with costs shared by the Government. Prior to deployment, employees must elect medical insurance coverage provided by a PPO (Preferred Provider), not an HMO (Health Maintenance Organization). HMO plans will not cover any medical expenses incurred overseas.

  More information may be obtained at www.opm.gov/insure/.

• Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA)

  The Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) provides compensation benefits to Federal Employees for work-related injuries or illnesses and to their surviving dependents if a work-related injury or illness results in the employee's death. More information may be obtained at http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/owcp/ca_feca.htm.

• Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program (FEGLI)

  The Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program is available to eligible federal employees. FEGLI provides group term life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment insurance. More information available at https://www.opm.gov/insure/life/index.asp .

• Thrift Savings Plan

  Eligible employees may participate in the Thrift Savings Plan; a long-term savings and investment program for federal employees designed to provide retirement income. More information available at www.tsp.gov.

Training

If the traveler has completed OT610, RS415, AR421 or RS510 within 5 years prior to departure for his or her Afghanistan assignment, he/she does not need to repeat the course.

• OT610 - Foreign Affairs Counter Threat Course (FACT)

  This course provides the knowledge and skills to better prepare for living and working in critical and high threat environments overseas. The course instructs participants in the practical skills necessary to recognize, avoid, and respond to potential terrorist threat situations. Participants will demonstrate the practical application of techniques taught in the course. Participants will learn how to conduct surveillance detection, aspects of Personnel Recovery, provide emergency medical care, demonstrate improvised explosive device (IED) awareness, participate in firearms familiarization, and perform defensive/counterterrorist driving maneuvers.

• RS415 - Afghanistan Familiarization (FAM)

  This course is designed to provide employees assigned to the U.S. mission to Afghanistan with the basic professional skills and knowledge needed to function as members of Embassy Kabul and/or its subordinate entities. It is mandatory for all personnel assigned to Afghanistan under Chief of Mission authority, on a permanent or extended TDY basis. The course includes an overview of Afghanistan’s history and culture, Islam, Afghan politics, insurgency and border issues, USG political and military strategy in Afghanistan, and U.S. agency programs in country. An introduction to Dari or Pashto phrases, working with interpreters, and useful behaviors will assist in developing positive, productive relationships with Afghans.

• AR421 - Field Orientation

  This course provides personnel assigned to an Afghanistan provincial reconstruction team, a district support team or other regional platform, or anyone supporting these field positions from Embassy Kabul with the basic professional skills and knowledge essential to functioning as a member of a civil-military field team. Coursework covers topics such as USG strategy in the provinces and districts, Afghanistan national and subnational government structure, counterinsurgency, development programs in Afghanistan, UNAMA, ISAF, civil-military planning and integration, consequence management, economic development, negotiations, and other topics essential to the field mission. The course consists of presentations, panel discussions and student role-play using Afghan interpreters. Through lectures, a panel discussion, and a role-play simulation, the course provides direct interaction with former PRT members and Afghans as well as desk officers and policy experts from USG agencies.

• RS510 - Interagency Integrated Civilian-Military Training Exercise for Afghanistan

  The Interagency Civilian-Military Integration Training Exercise program at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center in Butlerville, Indiana, simulates the working environment on civilian-military platforms in Afghanistan for civilian personnel from the Department of State, Department of Agriculture, the Agency for International Development, and other U.S. federal agencies. The program allows trainees to work in concert with military colleagues, including life on a Forward Operating Base, travel by military convoy or helicopter, and use of interpreters during scripted training events featuring Afghan role-players. Participants practice typical PRT and other civilian-military activities, such as attending Provincial Development Council meetings, building personal relationships, and navigating sensitive situations with provincial, district and local level Afghan officials, religious leaders and villagers. Trainees receive additional briefings on related topics such as U.S. counterinsurgency strategies and USAID’s Tactical Conflict Assessment and Planning Framework.