Recruitment, Relocation and Retention Incentives

An authorized agency official may request that OPM waive the 25 percent cap based on a critical agency need. The agency must determine that the competencies required for the position 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). Under such a waiver, the total amount of recruitment or relocation incentive payments paid to an employee in a service period may not exceed 50 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. However, in no event may a waiver provide total incentive payments exceeding 100 percent of the employee’s annual rate of basic pay at the beginning of the service period. (See 5 CFR 575.109(c) and 575.209(c).)