This summary of benefits is intended to provide a brief overview of benefits available to employees by the City of Garland.  It is not a guarantee that said benefits will continue to be provided.  Benefits may be modified, added, or deleted at any time.  This summary is not intended to provide a full description of those benefits, nor is it to be construed as a complete representation of any applicable contracts or plan documents.  Employee contribution amounts are subject to change at any time.  Complete details of all benefit programs are available through the City of Garland Human Resources Department.
 
Click one of the following categories to look at more detail or scroll down the page to review detail on all of these benefits.

Vacation Leave
Sick Leave
Short Term Disability
Long Term Disability
Holidays
Family Medical Leave
Funeral Leave
Medical Benefits
Dental and Vision Benefits
City Provided Life Insurance
Optional Life Insurance
Cafeteria Plan
The Texas Municipal Retirement System
Social Security
Deferred Compensation
Tuition Reimbursement
 
 

Vacation Leave:
All regular full-time City employees are eligible for paid vacation upon completion of the post-hire evaluation period and any extension of that period.  Employees accrue vacation on a pay-period basis.  Balances are shown on each bi-weekly issued pay check stub.  For the first 5 years, full-time employees accrue 80 hours per year.  Every year following, they earn additional 8 hours per year to a maximum of 160 hours a year, after 14 years.  Regular full-time employees earn pro-rated vacation based on the number actual hours worked, the number of hours are shown on the employee pay stub.  Employees may begin using accrued vacation once post-hire is completed.  Employees are paid for their balance of vacation upon termination, provided they have given the appropriate two weeks notice.
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Sick Leave: 
Upon completion of the post-hire evaluation period and any extension of that, regular full-time employees have 40 hours of paid sick leave available for personal illness or injury.  At the beginning of the following year, regular full time employees receive 80 hours of paid sick leave each year for the first 5 years of service.  Each year after the fifth year, regular full time employees receive an additional 8 hours of sick leave to a maximum of 160 hours per calendar year after 15 years.  Sick leave does not carry-over from one year to the next.  General employees are not paid for sick leave upon termination.  Civil Service employees accrue 15 sick days per year.
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Short Term Disability:
After one year of employment, regular full-time general employees may be eligible for short term disability benefits due to non-occupational illness or injury.  To qualify, employees must exhaust all available sick, vacation, and personal holiday leave, file a physician’s statement and have an approved short term disability application on file with Human Resources Benefits Department.  Payment percentage for Short Term Disability is between 60% and 75% of gross salary depending on years of service.
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Long Term Disability:
The City offers a Self-Insured LTD plan for regular full-time employees with an employee participation cost of $8 per month.  The City contributes the remainder of the plan cost.  The plan provides for payment of up to 60% of gross salary if disabled.  LTD benefits are reduced by Workers Compensation, Social Security, and/or TMRS payments.
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Holidays:
The City provides 10 paid holidays per calendar year.  9 are designated as official city holidays and one is personal*.  Designated holidays are New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and the Friday after Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and one extra day at Christmas which is designated each year by the City Manager.  The one personal holiday may be taken after completion of post-hire.  Up to 4 standard holidays may be carried over from one calendar year to the subsequent year if the employee is unable to take the holiday(s) in the year they were originally allotted.  Holidays which are carried over must be taken prior to April 1 of the subsequent year.  As of April 1, any remaining carry over holidays will be deleted. Regular part-time employees receive one-half the number of hours for each holiday granted to full-time employees.  Standard, personal and bonus holidays may not be paid upon separation of employment, except carry over standard holidays may be paid upon voluntary separation of employment.
 
* 9/11 Holiday (Fire Civil Service employees only)
In compliance with the Texas Local Government Code section 142.0013, covered fire fighters shall receive a holiday designated as September 11^th in lieu of a personal holiday.
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Family Medical Leave:
FMLA is a federal law that provides for up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12 month period for specified family and medical reasons.  Medical certification from a health provider is part of the requirements for FMLA leave.  FMLA runs concurrent with any and all other City leave programs.
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Funeral Leave:
Regular full-time employees who have completed their post-hire evaluation period are eligible for funeral leave.  Regular full-time employees may be granted up to 24 hours of paid leave each calendar year to attend the funeral, or to handle details surrounding the death of an immediate family member to include a husband, wife, mother, step-mother, mother-in-law, father, step-father, father-in-law, sister, brother, son, daughter, step-children, grandparent or any legally designated dependent.  Regular full-time employees may be granted up to 8 hours each calendar year of paid leave in order to attend the funeral of an extended family member.
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Medical Benefits:
Group health coverage is available for all regular, full-time employees and their eligible dependents (Please refer to the Employee Benefits Guide Book for list of eligible dependents) Coverage on all benefits becomes effective 2 months and 1 day after new hire date of employment with the City.  Prospective employees and new hires should make arrangements to continue existing benefits until they are certain their City of Garland benefits are in effect. 
 
The City offers two self-insured PPO Plans administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas utilizing the Blue Choice PPO Network.  The coverage levels available are: employee only, employee + child(ren), employee + spouse and employee + family. 
   
Following is a brief description of the health rates and benefits.  Please refer to the Employee Benefits Guidebook and the respective plan documents for detailed information.