San Antonio Fire Department

San Antonio, TX

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documented benefits (8)

Paid training	Fire Cadets are paid $3,853.66 a month during about six months of academy training: a 940-hour, 25-week firefighting programme leading to Basic Structural Firefighter certification plus a 200-hour EMT curriculum. Probationary firefighter pay rises to $5,348 a month on graduation.
Pension	Defined-benefit pension paid as a percentage of base pay by years of service: 45% at 20 years, 80% at 27 years, 86% at 30 years and 87.5% at 33 years.
No experience needed	At least 19 and under 34 on the date of the entrance exam; high school graduate or GED. Bars include a felony conviction, a Class A or B misdemeanour conviction in the last 5 years, a DWI/DUI in the last 5 years, two or more traffic convictions in the last 12 months, and any discharge from the Armed Forces other than honourable.
PTO	15 days
Dental	yes
Vision	yes
Promoted from within	Promotional examinations open four years from the date you enter the Fire Academy, run annually, and feed an eligibility list used as vacancies occur.
Retention	Documented occupational risk. NIOSH (US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) reports that cancer is a leading cause of death among firefighters, and that sudden death from a heart event is the most common cause of death among firefighters.

notable perks

Uniform commissary credit and NFPA-standard personal protective equipment provided to every firefighter
Longevity pay: base pay rises 3% for every 5 years of service, to a maximum of 18% at 30 years
The six-month fire training academy is GI Bill eligible, so veterans can draw education benefits while training

the legal floor where they are

Set by law, not by San Antonio Fire Department. It applies to every employer in San Antonio, TX.

IVF cycles the state covers	THERE IS NO FEDERAL MANDATE. No US law requires an employer health plan to cover IVF or any infertility treatment, so coverage comes either from the insurance mandate in the state where the plan is written or from the employer's own choice. And the state mandates reach less far than they look: they bind fully insured plans bought from a state-regulated carrier, while a self-funded employer plan is governed federally under ERISA and is preempted from state insurance regulation. KFF's 2025 employer survey puts 67% of covered workers in a self-funded plan, and 80% of those at firms of 200 or more — so at the size of employer this site mostly covers, the state mandate usually does not apply, and any fertility benefit is a genuine company choice rather than a restatement of law. That is precisely why it belongs on a benefits page here. Perks has not yet read this employer's own state insurance mandate from an official source; the states that have been read carry their own entry. (No federal statute requires an employer health plan to cover infertility treatment or IVF. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) preempts state insurance regulation as applied to self-funded employer plans, which is why a state mandate does not reach them.)
Adoption leave the law gives	12 workweeks of UNPAID job-protected leave in any 12-month period on the placement of a child for adoption or foster care, and only for employees who meet the FMLA eligibility test. There is no federal paid adoption leave. (Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)(B) and 2612(c); eligibility at 29 U.S.C. 2611(2) and (4). Quoted from the 2023 edition of the US Code.)
Pay when you are ill	No federal law requires any paid sick leave. The FLSA does not require payment for time not worked, and the FMLA gives 12 workweeks of UNPAID job-protected leave in any 12-month period for a serious health condition, and only for employees who meet the FMLA eligibility test. Any paid sick time comes from a state or city law, or from the employer's own choice. (Fair Labor Standards Act, per the Department of Labor's statement on payment for time not worked; Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)(D) and 2612(c). Quoted from the 2023 edition of the US Code on govinfo.gov.)

Every claim above is sourced and dated. See sources on the full page.

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