State of Delaware Employee Benefits: Insurance, Leave, and Retirement

State of Delaware employee benefits include subsidized medical, dental, and vision coverage, a defined-benefit pension, voluntary supplemental retirement savings through the DEFER program, short- and long-term disability insurance, group life insurance up to $350,000, tiered annual and sick leave, and access to the new Delaware Paid Leave program that took full effect January 1, 2026. The package is designed around long-term service, so several of the most valuable pieces — pension vesting, higher leave accrual, life insurance without a medical review — depend on when you were hired and how long you stay.

Health Insurance and Premiums

The Group Health Insurance Program offers four medical plans as of January 2026: the Highmark First State Basic PPO, the Aetna CDH Gold, the Aetna HMO, and the Highmark Comprehensive PPO. The state pays most of the premium; you pay the balance through payroll.¹

Monthly employee shares vary widely:

Highmark First State Basic PPO: $25.00 employee-only, $56.56 family
Aetna CDH Gold: $28.30 employee-only, $74.54 family
Aetna HMO: $37.10 employee-only, $97.62 family
Highmark Comprehensive PPO: $82.72 employee-only, $214.58 family

The spread between the Basic PPO and the Comprehensive PPO is large enough that the plan comparison is worth doing carefully; deductibles and copays differ, and the cheapest premium is not automatically the cheapest year of care. Dental and vision coverage are available through the same program.

Alongside the medical plans, DelaWELL provides preventive care programming, an online wellness profile, and health coaching through Highmark’s Blues On Call service. Annual physicals are encouraged.²³ The Employee Assistance Program offers confidential counseling for personal and work-related concerns, including mental health, substance abuse, and family issues, generally at no cost.

Retirement: Pension and DEFER

The Delaware State Employees’ Pension Plan is a defined benefit plan. Your monthly retirement check comes from a formula based on years of service and final average compensation, not from investment returns, and the state carries the investment risk.

Vesting depends on your hire date. If you were hired before January 1, 2012, you vest after five consecutive years of service. Hired on or after that date, you need ten years of service, with at least five of those years consecutive.⁴ Leave before you vest and you forfeit the pension benefit, though you can withdraw your own contributions.

Contribution rates also turn on hire date and job class. Most employees hired before 2012 contribute 3% of annual salary above $6,000; those hired in 2012 or later contribute 5% above $6,000. Correctional officers and specified peace officers contribute 7% of full salary regardless of hire date. 911 operators contribute 5% (pre-2012) or 7% (2012 and later) of salary above $6,000.⁵

On top of the pension, the DEFER program lets you set aside additional retirement savings on a tax-deferred basis through a 457(b), a 403(b), or a 401(a) plan. Legislative, Judicial Branch, and higher education employees can participate along with most other state workers.⁶ The 457(b) has a useful feature: after you separate from service, early withdrawals aren’t subject to the 10% penalty that applies to most retirement accounts.

Disability Insurance

Delaware provides both short-term and long-term disability coverage to participating state employees, established under Delaware Code Title 29, Chapter 52A.

Short-term disability pays 75% of your base salary after a 30-day waiting period from the onset of the disability, and runs for a maximum of 182 calendar days. You can use accrued annual leave, sick leave, or other balances to cover the 30-day gap and to top the 75% benefit up to your full salary. Long-term disability begins after that 182-day period and pays 60% of your pre-disability base salary. You cannot supplement long-term disability with sick leave.⁷ The step down from 75% to 60% is real money, so employees with fixed obligations may want to plan around it.

Life Insurance

Group Universal Life Insurance lets you purchase coverage between one and six times your base annual salary, up to a $350,000 maximum. Dependent coverage is available at $10,000 or $20,000 for a spouse and the same amounts for children.⁸

Enrollment timing matters. During your initial eligibility period and during annual open enrollment, you can enroll or raise your coverage without proof of good health. The 2026 open enrollment window runs May 4 through May 15, 2026, for the plan year that starts July 1. Outside those windows, increases require evidence of insurability. A qualifying life event such as marriage, birth, or adoption lets you bump up one coverage level without a health review, capped at three times your base salary or $200,000, whichever is less.⁸

Annual Leave, Sick Leave, and FMLA

Full-time merit and merit-comparable employees accrue annual leave based on service. On a 40-hour workweek, the rates are:

Fewer than 10 years: 10 hours per month
10 to 14 years: 12 hours per month
15 or more years: 14 hours per month

Employees on a 37.5-hour schedule accrue 9.5, 11.25, and 13.25 hours per month at the same service tiers. Exempt employees and agency aides accrue at the top rate regardless of tenure.⁹ New employees generally can’t use annual leave until they have completed six months of service.

Unused annual leave rolls over, but with a cap. Merit employees on a 40-hour schedule can carry a maximum of 336 hours into the next year (roughly eight and a half weeks); those on a 37.5-hour schedule can carry 318 hours. Anything above the cap is forfeited, so keep an eye on the balance as December approaches.⁹

Sick leave accrues at a flat rate regardless of seniority: 10 hours per month on a 40-hour schedule, or 9.5 hours per month on a 37.5-hour schedule.¹⁰ You can use it for your own illness, medical appointments, or to care for a family member. There is no cap on accumulation, and unused sick leave can factor into your pension calculation at retirement.

Eligible employees can also take up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected federal FMLA leave in a 12-month period for the birth or placement of a child, care of a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition, or your own serious health condition. Group health benefits continue during FMLA leave on the same terms as active employment.¹¹

Delaware Paid Leave

Delaware Paid Leave went into full effect January 1, 2026, and it is the biggest recent addition to the benefits picture. The program pays wage-replacement benefits when you need extended time away from work for a covered reason.¹²

Four categories of leave are covered:

New child bonding: up to 12 weeks per year
Caring for a family member with a serious health condition: up to 6 weeks every 24 months
Your own serious health condition or injury: up to 6 weeks every 24 months
Military family deployment support: up to 6 weeks every 24 months

Total combined leave across categories is capped at 12 weeks per year. Benefits replace 80% of your average weekly wages, up to $900 per week.¹²¹³

To qualify, you must work primarily in Delaware (at least 60% of your time each quarter), have worked for your employer for at least 12 months, and have logged at least 1,250 hours of service in the most recent 12 months.¹⁴ Most full-time state employees will clear these thresholds after their first year.

Workplace Protections

Delaware law prohibits workplace discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy), religion, age (40 and over), disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, military status, and housing status.¹⁵ Several of those categories, including sexual orientation, gender identity, housing status, and reproductive healthcare decisions, go beyond federal Title VII.¹⁶

The Whistleblowers’ Protection Act bars employers from retaliating against employees who report violations of law, regulation, or financial management standards, whether the report goes to a public body or to a supervisor. Retaliation covers termination, threats, changes in compensation, and adverse changes in working conditions. If you make a verbal rather than written report, you carry the burden of proving the report was made by clear and convincing evidence, so put it in writing when you can.¹⁷

If you are hurt on the job or develop an occupational illness, workers’ compensation covers medical care, temporary wage replacement for total or partial disability, permanent impairment or disfigurement benefits, vocational rehabilitation, and death benefits for dependents in fatal cases.¹⁸

Development, Charitable Giving, and Flexible Work

The Delaware Learning Center offers training and workshops for skill development and career advancement. Tuition assistance is available, though award amounts and eligibility criteria vary by agency and funding. The State Employees’ Charitable Campaign lets you contribute to charitable organizations through payroll deduction, and various discount programs on goods and services change from year to year.

Telework has expanded in recent years, but eligibility still depends on your role and supervisor approval. Compressed workweeks and other alternative schedules exist in many agencies but depend on operational needs. Because arrangements differ so much across agencies, ask about them during the hiring conversation rather than assuming a specific setup will be available in your position.

1
State of Delaware. Group Health Insurance Plan Rate Sheet January 2026
2
State of Delaware Department of Human Resources. State of Delaware DelaWELL Health Management Program
3
State of Delaware. DelaWELL Health Management Program – Annual Physical Exam
4
State of Delaware Office of Pensions. State Employees Pension Plan Summary Plan Description
5
State of Delaware Office of Pensions. Pension Contributions FAQs
6
State of Delaware Office of the State Treasurer. DEFER – Employee Deferred Compensation Plans
7
Delaware Code Online. Delaware Code Title 29 Chapter 52A – Disability Insurance Program
8
Department of Human Resources. Group Universal Life (GUL) Insurance Plan
9
Delaware Department of Human Resources. Leave Summary and Reference Guide
10
Merit Employee Relations Board. State Merit Rules Chapter 5
11
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28 – The Family and Medical Leave Act
12
Delaware Department of Labor. Delaware Paid Leave
13
Delaware Department of Labor. Delaware Paid Leave Program Overview FAQs
14
Delaware Department of Labor. Delaware Paid Leave Eligibility and Requirements FAQs
15
Justia Law. Delaware Code Title 19 Section 711 – Unlawful Employment Practices
16
Delaware Department of Labor. Office of Anti-Discrimination
17
Delaware Code Online. Delaware Code Title 19 Chapter 17 – Whistleblowers Protection
18
Delaware Office of Workers’ Compensation. Workers Compensation FAQs