I asked CACI to match my existing hourly rate shown on my usis paystub and they told me their highest starting salary for a level 3 investigator is $27 plus $3.81 fringe and they. Old not go higher. Seems like CACI was trying to dupe me by offering me a less salary than I’m making with usis and pass it off as a $4000 increase.
On the link I provided for the dept. of Labor…it says on the left hand side of the page….“How to file a complaint.” You may want to look into that. For those USIS employees that weren’t being paid the surplus of their fringe payment because they weren’t electing benefits (keep in mind the amount has changed each and every year and usually increases each year), then I think you have a legitimate gripe and complaint. I have heard that some employees have been paid amounts that they were due because of this or perhaps there was some sort of a lawsuit filed (I’m not sure about this).
I always elected medical and dental benefits with USIS since I have been employed and I don’t recall ever getting paid a quarterly amount into my 401K. In fact, I don’t even recall being sent a quarterly letter like I am now by Government Services Administration (GSA) like I have been since Fall/2013. I don’t know if this is something new GSA is doing now or what with these quarterly statements or because USIS elects to pay surpluses into a 401K account.
I also don’t understand how USIS can also require us to pay for our PTO out of our benefits, sick leave, and 401K match from the $609.00 we accrue each month. Doesn’t seem right. I’d like to know the law on that but I haven’t found an answer.
Just par for the course over here at USIS with all of this murkiness lingering around about the H&W isn’t it?
So in the CACI offer then, does that $609 a month get paid out to me in money for the fringe benefits or does it pay for something else.
Well since I have been with USIS I have only used the dental and vision and have always gotten a deposit into my 401K every quarter. I never understood why we did not have a choice in how we received the surplus. I believe in one of the other threads someone said it had something to do with taxes.
And Joe your right recently I received a check in the mail. It stated that DOL had conducted an audit an as a result I am receiving additional compensation for work performed on the OPM contract. There was some type of settlement agreement with USIS and DOL.
deedisdone
It really depends on the benefits you chose. You dont automatically receive the $609 in your pay check each month. From the way I understand it this is how it works (someone correct me if I am wrong).
You get $3.81 an hour for benefits. If your benefits total 3.00 and hour, you will only receive the surplus, which is this case would be .81. So instead of the $609 a month you will only get $64.80 a month or $32.40 a pay period.
@scforum: sure. I too like many of you have done my research. I’ve spoke with friends who previously worked at Keypoint and with folks who left for CACI. If you were previously (and possibly still) with Keypoint, you have endured through 2 recent RIF’s and demotions. You also ONLY have the OPM contract to keep your business afloat. With CACI on the other hand, they have never done a layoff and have sent FI’s on detail if there was a lack of work which I would prefer vs. being forced to take my PTO. They also do profit sharing with employee stock option. They take better care of their people by way of understanding us as human beings than just numbers. Sure, you may not get the high dollar amount that Keypoint is giving but you may be able to make it up in the long run. I’m not jumping ship JUST for money, i want to work for a company that has a good reputation and will take care of it’s FI’s. Furthermore, I learned that 6 of my ex-teammates left for CACI and I really enjoyed working with my co-workers so that helps too! The end game for me is Quality vs. Quantity and CACI is where I feel I need to be.
For those of you still not sure and being up that big increase with Keypoint, do you really want to be part of this:
https://forum.federalsoup.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=57618#post669388
<b>Did you all see the follow up articles from the competing company FCI Federal? Wow. I wish they did OPM BI’s. They seem like the opposite of USIS. Sorry if this is bold. I’m an old guy and doing this on my phone. </b>
If you don’t already do it, set up a google alert for news on Usis. They email you any news articles. I do Altegrity too. For the one who asked when we are going back, it looks bleak.
So I figured out after thinking my salary with CACI wasn$4000 more in reality it’s $7000 less. I’m taking a $1.50 an hour payout if I accept the offer. Man this decision just became even harder.
joe hacket
You are correct - compare hourly wage without H&W from CACI to your hourly USIS rate. I too received two offers. CACI cited $2/hr less + H&W. KGS offer me $3.85 more/hr but the recruiter insists this is base that OT is factored on but she does not know how the H&W is paid.I have the feeling that KGS offer includes the $3.81 H&W which means I am offered only 4 cents/hr more.
H&W did increase to $4.02/hr but downs not go into effect until the contract year (Oct 1). Remember, this is only for hours worked on a SCA contract up to 40 per week. So if you take 5 days vacation, you do not get 40 hrs of $3.81 for that week.
USIS is allowed to take used PTO & SL outs of the H&W. I checked with DOL on this as it is a company offered fringe benefit.
Regarding any back H&W surplus owed.
You can make a conplaint to DOL but they only go back 2 years and no guarantee you get the full amount. The check you recently got was for a DOL investigation into Assoc Inv & Inv conducting SPINS which the Wage Determination defines as Sr Inv work. I only got about $32.00, so DOL settled for pennies on the dollar.
According to a DOL investigator, approximately 12 USIS employees sought back H&W from USIS by going through USIS management. Initially they all got the same answer, that they were not owed any. Doing your homework, citing the laws, being confrontational and threatening a DOL complaint was the only way USIS paid them. Do not expect USIS to voluntarily reimburse you. Looks like USIS paid only those that complained instead of the thousands of current & former Fi and reviewers.
However, right now I think USIS will tell everyone to pound salt and “Sue me”.
Also remember that regardless who you chose CACI or KGS you will automatically be making at least $2K more a year (before taxes) because the PUC charge has been eliminated.
If you include the mileage I am pretty sure most of us will be making more than what we made at USIS. At least I know I will be, I was also one of the first people to receive offers from CACI so now they may be playing hardball.
I have two offers on the table. Keypoint offers more vacation, better health benefits, the sign on bonus is higher, and they reimburse internet and fax line. CACI seems like it would be slightly easier to hit your numbers, but Keypoint seems like they will have the bulk of the contract. Decisions decisions
also I believe the only way to make any money on the mileage is to get a car that gets at least 40mpg
Mileage is definitely a big plus. Was around when USIS used to do this and felt that it was a nice perk.
Ninja Turtle how long have you been in USIS management?
I agree. To really leverage the mileage and make money off of the mileage…you will have to find a vehicle with at least 50 mpg. Look into the Toyota Prius. It gets around 53 mpg/highway and 46 mpg in the city. For a used Prius with around 12,000 miles you’ll be paying around $17,00. For a brand new Toyota Prius you’ll be looking at around $22,000. The Prius aint the best looking vehicle and doesn’t look as nice as the new Fusion and the old Charger we used to drive, but who cares when your profiting $400 to $500 per month on your mileage reimbursements.
Other vehicles to look into that are good with gas mileage is the Honda Insight at 45 miles per gallon/highway and 41/city.
If your looking for a larger car with a little more horsepower and still good gas mileage, then I’d go with any of the following:
Honda Accord (34 hwy/23 city), Honda Civic (39 hwy/28 city), Toyota Camry 34 to 35 hwy/28 or 29 city), Toyota Corolla (37 hwy/29 city), Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima (hybrid at 36 city and 40/highway).
I’d go with any of these foreign made cars above as they are all dependable and reliable vehicles that have good resale value and that are able to handle the high mileage we put on our vehicles and at the same time get good decent gas mileage.
Two questions.
- How do you know which company has the better health benefits?
- How do you know which company will get the bulk of the contract if they both are increasing their staff?
Im asking for information purposes only. Thanks.
@double07. I’ve seen both key point and caci benefit packages, and key point offers a choice of 5 health plans, usis has 2 and caci has 2. Honestly Caci and key point have much better benefits either way so that is a huge plus.
As as far as bulk of work I was told key point wasn’t much behind usis in percentage of work prior to this cyber attack… While I don’t know for sure, my gut tells me key point will have more of the share than caci. The new CEO worked for usis between 1999-2004 and the program director who made me the offer worked for usis between 2001-2005. Those were the good times at usis when the company was structured well and making money and taking car of their employees. I have hope they can implement a model similar to that with key point. I just worry I have a greater chance of being put on tdy at caci, but I haven’t made my decision yet. Everything I’ve compared in companies I give key point the edge. I hope I am not part of another rif at key point and I would much rather keep my job with caci and go on tdy. Just a lot of weighing to do on the offers.
@joe hacket , I like the benefit of the mpg with the Prius but they are not the coolest looking. Granted I have two kids and a wife, this will be my first car I get to decide on since college so I may look at various options. Even if I get a car in the 30-40 mpg and only make $100-$200 a month in profit I’d be happy still.
In closing I think we will be happier either way having a job and a new fresh start.
@deed
Is your CACI and KP offer still including a sign-on bonus? or has it been dropped?
@reg inv,
So Keypoint is also claiming that the H&W fringe benefit of $3.81 is built into your hourly rate??
So from what I have gathered, USIS is the only company that doesn’t include this H&W rate into your hourly base rate.
No wonder none of us feel totally comfortable with our decisions about jumping ship to one of these competitors when most of us are taking a pay cut or only barely sniffing a pay raise.
I will say this….The medical benefits to insure a family are so much more affordable at either company. At USIS to insure a family with a $4,000 deductible on an HSA account was around $800.00 per month that had to come from your SCA fringe benefit. At CACI and KGS, to insure an entire family is around $400 to 500/month with a deductible ranging from $800 to $1,500/year. Much better in my opinion.
Problem is even though we are unemployed and have no job and have no idea what the future holds with USIS, taking a pay cut from your USIS salary and not feeling like these companies are being transparent with their explanation of H&W fringe benefit payment vs. how USIS is paying the fringe benefit payment really has made me lose confidence in these other contractors. Problem is I have also lost confidence in USIS in how they have explained the fringe SCA benefit also over the years and the amount of money that we are all paying just to have benefits such as PTO, sick leave, medical, dental, etc here at USIS.
I guess for me it all comes to a leap of faith and trying to trust your gut on this. All of the strengths and weaknesses have been debated ad nauseum here on these message boards. I’m confused as ever because there are really no great options whether you go with CACI or KGS. I guess I’ll have to flip a coin and just make a decision.