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Title 5, Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-110

§4108 Employee Agreements; Service After Training

Title 5 › PART III — EMPLOYEES › Subpart C — Employee Performance › CHAPTER 41 — TRAINING › § 4108

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

An employee picked for training that is longer than the agency’s minimum must sign a written agreement before training. They must stay with the agency for at least three times the length of the training, unless they are involuntarily separated. If they quit on their own before that time, they must pay back the extra costs the Government paid for their training. If they leave to work for another federal agency, they do not have to pay unless the training agency tells them before the new job starts that payment will be required. If the employee does not pay, the Government may recover the amount by taking owed pay, compensation, retirement credit, or by other legal methods. The agency head can waive recovery under rules from section 4118 if collecting would be unfair or against the public interest.

Full Legal Text

Title 5, §4108

Government Organization and Employees, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)An employee selected for training for more than a minimum period prescribed by the head of the agency shall agree in writing with the Government before assignment to training that he will—
(1)continue in the service of his agency after the end of the training period for a period at least equal to three times the length of the training period unless he is involuntarily separated from the service of his agency; and
(2)pay to the Government the amount of the additional expenses incurred by the Government in connection with his training if he is voluntarily separated from the service of his agency before the end of the period for which he has agreed to continue in the service of his agency.
(b)The payment agreed to under subsection (a)(2) of this section may not be required of an employee who leaves the service of his agency to enter into the service of another agency in any branch of the Government unless the head of the agency that authorized the training notifies the employee before the effective date of his entrance into the service of the other agency that payment will be required under this section.
(c)If an employee, except an employee relieved of liability under subsection (b) of this section or section 4102(b) of this title, fails to fulfill his agreement to pay to the Government the additional expenses incurred by the Government in connection with his training, a sum equal to the amount of the additional expenses of training is recoverable by the Government from the employee or his estate by—
(1)setoff against accrued pay, compensation, amount of retirement credit, or other amount due the employee from the Government; and
(2)such other method as is provided by law for the recovery of amounts owing to the Government.
The head of the agency concerned, under the regulations prescribed under section 4118 of this title, may waive in whole or in part a right of recovery under this subsection, if it is shown that the recovery would be against equity and good conscience or against the public interest.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

DerivationU.S. CodeRevised Statutes andStatutes at Large 5 U.S.C. 2310.July 7, 1958, Pub. L. 85–507, § 11, 72 Stat. 332. In subsection (a), the last sentence of former section 2310(a) is omitted as included in the first sentence of the revised subsection. In subsection (b), the words, “another agency in any branch of the Government” are coextensive with and substituted for “another department or of any other agency in any branch of the Government”. This is so because “agency in any branch of the Government” is broader than “agency” as defined for the purpose of this chapter in section 4101(1). Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2002—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 107–347 struck out subsec. (d) which read as follows: “For purposes of this section, ‘training’ includes a private sector assignment of an employee participating in the Executive Exchange Program of the President’s Commission on Executive Exchange.” 1994—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–226 substituted “for more than a minimum period prescribed by the head of the agency” for “by, in, or through a non-Government facility under this chapter”. 1984—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 98–224 added subsec. (d).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2002 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 107–347 effective 120 days after Dec. 17, 2002, see section 402(a) of Pub. L. 107–347, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 3601 of Title 44, Public Printing and Documents. Department of Homeland SecurityException from provisions of this section of those elements of the Department of Homeland Security that are supervised by the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection through the Department’s Assistant Secretary for Information Analysis, see Ex. Ord. No. 13286, § 86, Feb. 28, 2003, 68 F.R. 10632, set out as a note under section 111 of Title 6, Domestic Security. Central Intelligence AgencyException of Central Intelligence Agency from provisions of this section, see Ex. Ord. No. 10805, Feb. 18, 1959, 24 F.R. 1301, set out as a note under section 4102 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

5 U.S.C. § 4108

Title 5, Government Organization and Employees

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110