§9805 Retention Bonuses

Summary

The Administrator may pay a retention bonus to keep an employee who has unusually high or unique skills or whose services the agency especially needs, if the employee would likely leave without the bonus. Bonuses must follow the agency’s workforce plan. If the job is listed as a critical need in the workforce plan under section 9802(b)(2)(A), the bonus can be up to 50 percent of the employee’s annual basic pay, and that limit includes comparability payments under sections 5304 and 5304a. If the job is not listed as critical, the bonus can be up to 25 percent of annual basic pay, and that limit excludes those comparability payments. Paying a bonus requires a signed service agreement that states the service period, how and when payments will be made (lump sum, installments, or both), the bonus amount and how it was calculated, and what happens if the agreement ends early. Service periods are shown in whole years and twelfths (rounding months to the nearest twelfth), and must be at least 6 months but no more than 4 years. A written agreement is not needed if the bonus is paid in full by biweekly installments with nothing deferred; the agency must notify the employee in writing of any change, and the employee keeps earning the bonus through the end of the pay period when notice is given. The bonus is not part of basic pay. An employee cannot get a retention bonus during a service period already set under sections 5753 or 9804. No more than 25 percent of the total bonuses paid in a year may go to supervisors or management officials.