§10105 Retention Bonuses

Summary

The Agency head may give a one-time retention bonus to an employee when the person has unusually high or unique skills or the agency urgently needs them, and the head believes the employee would likely leave federal service or move to a different federal job without the bonus. The bonus is decided case-by-case, paid as a single lump-sum, and does not count as basic pay. The Agency head sets the amount, but it cannot be more than 25 percent of the job’s annual basic pay. The employee must sign a written agreement saying how long they will stay and what happens if they leave early. The bonus cannot cover any period already used for a recruitment bonus and cannot be paid to three types of positions (Presidential appointments requiring Senate approval, noncareer Senior Executive Service appointees, or jobs excepted from the competitive service for confidential or policy-making reasons). Once a strategic human capital plan is finished, bonuses must follow that plan. The authority to pay these bonuses ends 5 years after the law takes effect, and the Office of Personnel Management must report to Congress each year for the first 5 years on how the bonus authority was used, including numbers and dollar amounts by pay level and whether the bonuses met their purpose.