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Yes. However, an agency may not include in a group retention incentive authorization an employee in a senior-level (SL), scientific or professional (ST), Senior Executive Service (SES), Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration (FBI/DEA) SES, or Executive Schedule (EX) position or similar categories of positions for which the payment of a retention incentive has been approved by OPM. (See 5 CFR 575.305(c) and 575.315(a)(2).) Retention incentives for employees in such positions must be approved on an individual, case-by-case basis.
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Yes. An agency may pay a recruitment incentive to an employee who has not yet entered on duty if the individual has accepted a written offer of employment and has signed a service agreement. (See 5 CFR 575.109(d).)
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Waiver requests must include a description of the critical agency need the proposed incentive would address, the documentation required for the agency's written determination to authorize a recruitment incentive under 5 CFR 575.108 or a relocation incentive under 5 CFR 575.208, the proposed incentive payment amount and a justification for that amount, the timing and method of making the incentive payments, the service period required, and any other information pertinent to the case at hand. (See 5 CFR 575.109(c)(2) and 575.209(c)(2).)
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Before the employee enters on duty in the position for which recruited, or in the position in the new geographic area, the agency must determine that, in the absence of a recruitment or relocation incentive (as applicable), the agency would encounter difficulty in filling the position. An agency may determine that a position is likely to be difficult to fill if the agency is likely to have difficulty recruiting candidates with the competencies required for the position in the absence of a recruitment or relocation incentive based on the fact that OPM has approved the use of a direct-hire authority applicable to the position
or on a consideration of the following factors:
- The availability and quality of candidates possessing the competencies required for the position, including the success of recent efforts to recruit candidates for similar positions using indicators such as offer acceptance rates, the proportion of positions filled, and the length of time required to fill similar positions;
- The salaries typically paid outside the Federal Government for similar positions;
- Recent turnover in similar positions;
- Employment trends and labor-market factors that may affect the agency's ability to recruit candidates for similar positions;
- Special or unique competencies required for the position;
- Agency efforts to use non-pay authorities, such as special training and work scheduling flexibilities, to resolve difficulties, alone or in combination with a recruitment or relocation incentive;
- The desirability of the duties, work or organizational environment, or geographic location of the position; and
- Other supporting factors.
(See 5 CFR 575.106 and 575.206.)
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Under 5 CFR 575.310(b), a service period must begin on the first day of a pay period and end on the last day of a pay period.
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It is up to the agency to decide how long to set the service period for retention incentives. Since the reason for the incentive is to encourage an employee to remain with the agency, the agency should consider what service period length would best help achieve this objective, i.e., what the agency believes to be a reasonable period of service for the amount of incentive it is willing to pay. A service period under a service agreement for an employee likely to leave for a different Federal position may not extend past the date on which the employee’s position is actually affected by the relocation or closure of the employee’s office, facility, activity, or organization (e.g., the date the employee’s position moves to a new geographic location or the date the employee’s position is eliminated.)
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Yes. Under 5 CFR 575.105(b), agencies may target groups of positions that have been difficult to fill in the past or that may be difficult to fill in the future and may make the required written determination to offer a recruitment incentive on a group basis (excluding positions covered by 5 CFR 575.103(a)(2), (a)(3), or (a)(5) or in similar categories approved by OPM). All requirements in the regulations and the agency's recruitment incentive plan must be met in order to pay a recruitment incentive to an individual employee in the covered group. For example, agencies may authorize a recruitment incentive of up to 25 percent of the annual rate of basic pay of the employee at the beginning of the service period multiplied by the number of years (including fractions of a year) in the service period (not to exceed 4 years), and the employee must be newly appointed in the Federal Government and must sign a service agreement of at least 6 months with the appointing agency.
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A position is considered to be in a different geographic area if the worksite of the new position is 50 or more miles from the worksite of the position held immediately before the move. If the worksite of the new position is less than 50 miles from the worksite of the position held immediately before the move, but the employee must relocate (i.e., establish a new residence) to accept the position, an authorized agency official may waive the 50-mile requirement and pay the employee a relocation incentive. (See 5 CFR 575.205(b).)
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