Employment Benefits
The City of Santa Ana offers a competitive and comprehensive benefits package for our employees and their eligible dependents. Our options include medical, dental, vision insurance; flexible spending for health and dependent care expenses; paid vacation, sick and holiday leave; life insurance, pension, deferred compensation, tuition reimbursement, wellness program, rideshare program and other voluntary benefits enhancements for a robust benefits package. The City also invests in continued career and professional growth with dedicated Organizational Development and Training staff to provide employees with training opportunities.
In addition to paid vacation, sick, and holiday leave time, we offer leaves of absence (such as paid parental leave) and an employee assistance program to support our employees with life changes that occur throughout their career.
Refer to our Summary of Benefits & Insurance Contribution Rates for more detailed coverage information specific to each bargaining group:
California Public Employees Pension System (CalPERS)
With a career in public service, you will be eligible for a lifetime retirement benefit after five years of full-time service and minimum age requirement. Your pension is determined by your age at retirement, retirement formula, and number of years of service. If you’re a member of another California public employee pension system, you may qualify for reciprocal membership.
Deferred Compensation Plan
The City’s deferred compensation 457 plan allows employees to further save towards retirement through either tax-deferred or ROTH payroll deductions.
Dental Plan Options
Keeping your teeth and gums healthy isn’t the only reason you should practice preventive dental care. With good dental hygiene, you can greatly reduce your risk of getting cavities, gingivitis, periodontitis, and other health problems. Dental HMO insurance plans typically cover dental services at a low cost and minimal or no copayments with a pre-selected primary care dentist or a dentist facility with multiple dentists. Dental PPO insurance plans offer a balance between low-cost care and dentist choice. These two types of plans have unique features, benefits, and limitations that are attractive to different people.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
We all experience personal and work-related stressors at one time or another. An employee assistance program is contracted and pre-paid by the City as a benefit for all full- and part-time employees and their immediate family. The program provides confidential short-term counseling, assessment and referral for a variety of concerns.
Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Dependent Care Account (DCFSA)
A flexible spending account lets you set aside pre-tax money through payroll deductions to be used tax-free for qualified out-of-pocket healthcare and dependent day care expenses you and your family expect to have over the year. An FSA account is not subject to payroll taxes, so you end up paying less in taxes and taking home more of your paycheck.
Identity Theft Protection
Identity theft can’t always be prevented, but having an identity theft monitoring service can alert you to instances where your personal information has been exposed and help you recover. Identity theft protection services helps protect you against identity theft with 24/7 monitoring of personal information, social media and credit bureaus and provide identity restoration services. Cybersecurity protection includes VPN, malware and virus, and data theft protection on your devices.
Life Insurance
Life, accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D) and long-term disability insurances can fill a number of financial gaps due to a temporary or permanent reduction of income because of an unexpected loss of life or event. Insurance protects you and your family’s financial security during such difficult times.
Medical Plan Options
You and your family have unique healthcare needs. The City has an extensive selection of Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) and Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) health plans to compare and choose from. Each plan has unique coverages and access to doctors and hospitals.
Pet Care Plan
Dogs and cats to pocket pets, they are an important part of your family. Their health and well-being is important and can be costly. The pet care plan provides instant savings with every vet visit with no exclusions due to age or pre-existing conditions.
Retirement Health Savings (RHS) Program
The retirement health savings program allows employees to set aside pre-tax contributions to be invested and set aside exclusively for qualifying medical expenses after retirement/separation.
Rideshare
The City’s program provides incentives for: the purchase or lease of qualified Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs), carpooling, vanpooling, biking, walking, or using bus/train to work.
Tuition reimbursement
As you continue to pursue education in your career within the organization, this program reimburses for the cost of tuition, e-books, or textbooks. Reimbursement is subject to terms of bargaining unit memorandum of understanding.
Vision Plan
Vision coverage helps with the cost of eyeglasses or contacts. But even if you don’t need vision correction, an annual eye exam checks the health of your eyes and can even detect more serious health issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and thyroid disease.
Wellness
The health and wellness of our employees is a key initiative of the City of Santa Ana. Our program includes activities that promote physical, financial, emotional and occupational wellness. Employees participate in wellness challenges for awards and to earn points to be entered into quarterly incentive drawings. The City also sponsors wellness activities such as on-site yoga classes.
Work-Life Balance
Our hard-working employees and their families deserve to have fun! All employees are eligible to receive discounts on activities, amusement parks, hotels, sports, concerts, movie tickets and much more. Plan your next event or vacation using our employee discount program.