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Agencies may pay a retention incentive to a current employee in the following categories of positions: General Schedule (GS); senior-level and scientific or professional (SL/ST); Senior Executive Service (SES); Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration (FBI/DEA) SES; law enforcement officer (LEO); Executive Schedule (EX); prevailing rate (wage) positions; and positions in a category for which payment of retention incentives has been approved by OPM at the request of the head of an executive agency. (See 5 CFR 575.303 and 575.315(b)(1).)
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An agency may pay a retention incentive in installments after the completion of specified periods of service or in a single lump sum after completion of the full period of service required by the service agreement. (See 5 CFR 575.309(b).) Installment payments must be consistent with biweekly pay periods, e.g., every 2 pay periods, 6 pay periods, or 8 pay periods. An agency may not pay a retention incentive to an employee likely to leave for a different Federal position in biweekly installments at the full retention incentive percentage rate established for the employee. See 5 CFR 531.315(e)(2).
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No. Retention incentive payments are not subject to the biweekly or annual premium pay limitation, since retention incentives are neither premium pay nor basic pay.
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Yes. Agencies may pay retention incentives to employees receiving a special rate or locality payment.
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To request a retention incentive in excess of 25 or 10 percent, as applicable, the agency must be facing a critical need. The agency must determine that the employee’s (or group of employees‘) unusually high or unique qualifications are critical to the successful accomplishment of an important agency mission, project, or initiative (e.g., programs or projects related to a national emergency or implementing a new law or critical management initiative). (See 5 CFR 575.309(e)(1).)
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Yes. See 5 CFR 575.109(f) and 575.209(e) and the definition of aggregate compensation at 5 CFR 530.202.
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Yes. Agencies may pay relocation incentives to employees receiving a special rate or locality rate.
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An agency must establish a single retention incentive rate for each individual or group of employees, expressed as a percentage of each employee’s rate of basic pay, not to exceed 25 percent (for an individual employee) or 10 percent (for a group or category of employees). (See 5 CFR 575.309(a).) With OPM approval, this cap may be increased to as much as 50 percent under the conditions specified in 5 CFR 575.309(e).
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Yes. Under 5 CFR 575.205, an agency may pay a relocation incentive to an employee of another agency to relocate to a different geographic area without a break in service to accept a position that is likely to be difficult to fill.
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