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A retention incentive is an incentive an agency may pay to a current employee if--
- The agency determines that the unusually high or unique qualifications of the employee or a special need of the agency for the employee’s services makes it essential to retain the employee and the employee would be likely to leave the Federal service in the absence of a retention incentive, or
- The agency has a special need for the employee’s services that makes it essential to retain the employee in his or her current position during a period of time before the closure or relocation of the employee’s office, facility, activity, or organization and the employee would be likely to leave for a different position in the Federal service in the absence of a retention incentive.
(See 5 CFR 575.301, 575.315(a)(1), the
Retention Incentives (likely to leave the Federal service) fact sheet, and the
Retention Incentives (likely to leave for a different Federal position) fact sheet.)
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Under 5 CFR 575.310(e), agencies may address the extent to which periods of time in a nonpay status (excluding military leave without pay) or in a paid leave status (or paid time off status) are creditable toward the completion of a retention incentive service period.
An employee who is absent because of uniformed service is generally entitled upon reemployment to be treated as though he or she had never left. (See 5 CFR 353.107.) This means that a person who is reemployed following uniformed service receives credit for the entire period of the absence for the purpose of rights and benefits based upon seniority and length of service, including within-grade increases, career tenure, completion of probation, leave rate accrual, and severance pay. Therefore, the period of military LWOP is creditable toward the completion of a retention service period.
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No. An agency may not use this authority to recruit an individual from outside the agency who is currently employed in the Federal service. (See 5 CFR 537.105(c).)
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For each determination to pay a retention incentive, the agency must document in writing—
- The basis for determining the agency has a special need for the employee’s (or group of employees‘) services that makes it essential to retain the employee(s), based on the agency‘s mission needs and the employee’s (or group of employees‘) competencies, during a period of time before the closure or relocation of the employee’s (or group of employees‘) office, facility, activity, or organization;
- The basis for determining, in the absence of a retention incentive, the employee (or a significant number of employees in the group) would be likely to leave for a different position in the Federal service; and
- The basis for determining the amount and timing of the incentive payments and the length of the service period.
(See 5 CFR 575.315(d)(1).)
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For the purpose of paying a recruitment incentive,
newly appointed refers to —
- The first appointment, regardless of tenure, as an employee of the Federal Government;
- An appointment of a former employee of the Federal Government following a break in service of at least 90 days; or
- An appointment of an individual in the Federal Government when his is her Federal service during the 90-day period immediately preceding the appointment was limited to one or more of the following:
- A time-limited appointment in the competitive or excepted service;
- A non-permanent appointment (excluding a Schedule C appointment under 5 CFR part 213) in the competitive or excepted service;
- Employment with the government of the District of Columbia (DC) when the candidate was first appointed by the DC government on or after October 1, 1987;
- An appointment as an expert or consultant under 5 U.S.C. 3109 and 5 CFR part 304;
- Employment under a provisional appointment designated under 5 CFR 316.403; or
- Employment under the Student Career Experience Program under 5 CFR 213.3202(b).
(See the definition of
newly appointed in 5 CFR 575.102.)
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Before paying a retention incentive, an agency must establish a plan for using the authority. (See 5 CFR 575.307 and 575.315(c).) The plan must include the designation of officials with authority to review and approve payment of retention incentives, the categories of employees who are prohibited from receiving retention incentives, required documentation for determining that an employee would be likely to leave the Federal service or would be likely to leave for a different position in the Federal service, any requirements for determining the amount of a retention incentive, the payment methods that may be authorized, requirements governing service agreements (including the criteria for determining the length of a service period, the conditions for terminating a service agreement, and the obligations of the agency if it terminates a service agreement), the conditions for terminating retention incentive payments when no service agreement is required, and documentation and recordkeeping requirements.
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Loans made or insured under the Higher Education Act of 1965 include the following:
Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL)
- Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans
- Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans
- Federal PLUS Loans
- Federal Consolidation Loans
William D. Ford Direct Loan Program (Direct Loans)
- Direct Subsidized Stafford Loans
- Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans
- Direct PLUS Loans
- Direct Subsidized Consolidation Loans
- Direct Unsubsidized Consolidation Loans
Federal Perkins Loan Program
- National Defense Student Loans (made before July 1, 1972)
- National Direct Student Loans (made between July 1, 1972, and July 1, 1987)
- Perkins Loans (made after July 1, 1987)
Loans made or insured under the Public Health Service Act include the following:
- Loans for Disadvantaged Students (LDS)
- Primary Care Loans (PCL)
- Nursing Student Loans (NSL)
- Health Professions Student Loans (HPSL)
- Health Education Assistance Loans (HEAL)
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By March 31 in each of the years 2006 through 2010, each agency must submit a written report to OPM on the use of the recruitment and relocation incentive authorities within the agency during the previous calendar year for use in compiling an OPM report to Congress, as required by section 101(c) of Public Law 108-411. Each agency report must include—
- A description of how the authority to pay recruitment and relocation incentives was used by the agency during the previous calendar year;
- The number and dollar amount of recruitment and relocation incentives paid during the previous calendar year by occupational series and grade, pay level, or other pay classification; and
- Other information, records, reports, and data as OPM may require.
(See 5 CFR 575.113(b) and 575.213(b).)
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FLSA-covered (nonexempt) employees are entitled to receive
overtime pay for time spent in entry-level training on the sixth day of a
6-day training course under the conditions specified below.
Time spent in apprenticeship or other entry-level training outside regular working hours
is not considered hours of work, provided no productive work is
performed during such periods (see 5 CFR 551.423(a)(3)). However, under
5 CFR 551.423(a)(1), time spent in training during regular working hours
is considered hours of work. The regulations at 5 CFR 551.421 clarify
that, for purposes of part 551, "regular working hours" means the days
and hours of an employee's regularly scheduled administrative workweek
established under 5 CFR part 610. The phrase "regularly scheduled
administrative workweek" is defined in 5 CFR 610.102 as the period
within an administrative workweek within which an employee is regularly
scheduled to work. Also, see the definition of "regularly scheduled
work" in 5 CFR 610.102, which hinges on whether the work was scheduled
in advance of the administrative workweek.
When FLSA-covered employees are scheduled in advance of the
administrative workweek to attend a 6-day entry-level training class
for a specified number of hours (e.g., 8 hours), those regularly scheduled training hours
on the sixth day are "regular working hours" and are considered hours
of work for overtime pay purposes. For example, an FLSA-covered
employee who is required to attend a 6-day training session at the
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) is entitled to overtime
pay for the sixth day of training, since the employee was scheduled in
advance of the administrative workweek to attend the FLETC training
course. Because the regularly scheduled training hours on the sixth day
are considered to be "regular working hours" (and the training will not
occur outside regular working hours), it is irrelevant that the FLETC
training is entry-level training and that no productive work is being
performed.
Agencies are responsible for determining whether an
employee is entitled to receive overtime pay for regularly scheduled
training hours under the conditions specified above. Agencies may need
to recompute an employee's overtime pay entitlement and provide back pay
under 5 CFR part 550, subpart H, for overtime hours that occurred
during regularly scheduled training.
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For each determination to pay a recruitment or relocation incentive, an agency must document in writing—
- The basis for determining that a position is likely to be difficult to fill;
- The basis for authorizing an incentive; and
- The basis for the amount and timing of the approved incentive payment and the length of the required service period.
- Also, for a relocation incentive, that the worksite of the employees new position is not in the same geographic area as the worksite of the position held immediately before the move (or that a waiver was approved under 5 CFR 575.205(b)) and that the employee established a residence in the new geographic area.
The authorized agency official must review and approve the recruitment or relocation incentive determination before the agency pays the incentive to the employee. (See 5 CFR 575.108(a) and 575.208(a).)
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