Human Resources
AGU is a great place to work.
Organization History
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is an international non-profit scientific association with over 45,000 members. Established in 1919 as a committee within the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, AGU was independently incorporated in 1972. Since its founding, AGU has been dedicated to furthering the sciences of geophysics through the individual efforts of our members and in cooperation with other national and international scientific organizations. These goals are met through publishing scientific journals and other technical publications, sponsoring scientific meetings of various sizes throughout the year and a variety of other educational and scientific activities. Our headquarters are conveniently located just north of Washington’s Dupont Circle.
Employee Benefits
In addition to competitive salary packages, AGU offers the following generous benefits programs:
Holidays & Leave
AGU observes six official holidays and in addition, on January 1st of each year, staff members receive three personal days that may be taken throughout the year with supervisory approval. Full time staff members with less than five years of service earn 24 days of annual leave per year. Staff members with five or more years of service earn 28 days of annual leave per year.
Medical & Dental Insurance *
AGU’s group insurance includes medical and dental insurance through CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. Staff members are eligible for coverage as of the first date of employment and may select from one of three health insurance plans: an HMO, POS, or PPO plan. AGU pays approximately 90% for employee coverage and 86% for family coverage of the medical plans.
Life Insurance *
AGU pays 100% of the monthly premium for life insurance and you are eligible for coverage as of the first date of employment. The amount of coverage provided is one time the staff member’s annual salary rounded to the next thousand up to a maximum of $50,000. Staff members may purchase supplemental life insurance coverage in increments of $10,000 to the lesser of five times the annual salary or $500,000.
Retirement
The AGU Retirement Plan consists of Social Security coverage supplemented by employee contributions to the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and the College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF). All staff members who have attained 30 years of age and one year of service or attained 21 years of age and two years of service are eligible to participate in the AGU retirement plan. AGU contributes an amount equal to 9% of the participant’s base salary to the TIAA-CREF program. Contributions are immediately 100% vested in the staff member’s personally-owned annuity contract. In addition, all staff members are eligible upon employment to participate in the TIAA-CREF tax-deferred savings/supplemental retirement plan.
Long-Term Disability Insurance
All staff members are eligible to participate in AGU’s long-term disability benefits plan after one year of continuous employment. AGU pays 100% of the monthly premium for long-term disability insurance.
Flexible Spending Accounts
AGU offers Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts that allow staff members to set aside pre-tax dollars to pay out-of-pocket non-reimbursable medical and dependent care expenses.
Transportation Reimbursement Incentive Program
The AGU TRIP program allows staff members to use pre-tax dollars to pay for qualified expenses for transportation to and from work. Qualified expenses include up to $110 per month for transit passes (metro, bus, ferry, train) or van pooling, and/or up to $215 per month for parking expenses. In addition, AGU encourages the use of public transportation to help protect the environment by subsidizing 10% of the cost of Metro passes that are purchased through the TRIP program.
Tuition Support
AGU strongly encourages staff members to improve their job skills through college credit course work. Reimbursement for job-related college courses is available to staff members upon completion of nine months of continuous employment. Approval is required from the staff member’s supervisor/director, and the Manager, Human Resources prior to registration. AGU provides a 50% advance for tuition and registration fees and the additional 50% after successful course completion.
Parking
Parking in the AGU garage is available but limited, and is granted to staff members on the basis of availability. Rates are $64.00 bi-weekly or $71.00 semi-monthly.
Health Club Membership
All AGU staff members may enroll in membership at the nearby Washington Sports Club. The initial membership period is one year. Staff members pay $10.00 per pay period through payroll deduction.
* Staff members must work at least 32 hours per week to be eligible for medical, dental, and life insurance.
