5 U.S.C. § 5753 - Recruitment and relocation bonuses

• Cite as: 5 U.S.C. § 5753

(a)

(1) This section may be applied to-

(A) employees covered by the General Schedule pay system established under subchapter III of chapter 53; and

(B) employees in a category approved by the Office of Personnel Management at the request of the head of an Executive agency.

(2) A bonus may not be paid under this section to an individual who is appointed to or who holds-

(A) a position to which an individual is appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, excluding members of the Foreign Service other than chiefs of mission and ambassadors at large;

(B) a position in the Senior Executive Service as a noncareer appointee (as such term is defined under section 3132(a)); or

(C) a position which has been excepted from the competitive service by reason of its confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character.

(3) In this section, the term "employee" has the meaning given that term in section 2105, except that such term also includes an employee described in subsection (c) of that section.

(b) The Office of Personnel Management may authorize the head of an agency to pay a bonus under this section to an individual only if-

(1) the position to which such individual is appointed (as described in paragraph (2)(A)) or to which such individual moves or must relocate (as described in paragraph (2)(B)) is likely to be difficult to fill in the absence of such a bonus; and

(2) the individual-

(A) is newly appointed as an employee of the Federal Government; or

(B)

(i) is currently employed by the Federal Government; and

(ii)

(I) moves to a new position in the same geographic area under circumstances described in regulations of the Office; or

(II) must relocate to accept a position in a different geographic area.

(c)

(1) Payment of a bonus under this section shall be contingent upon the employee entering into a written service agreement to complete a period of employment with the agency, not longer than 4 years. The Office may, by regulation, prescribe a minimum service period for purposes of this section.

(2)

(A) The agreement shall include-

(i) the commencement and termination dates of the required service period (or provisions for the determination thereof);

(ii) the amount of the bonus;

(iii) the method of payment; and

(iv) other terms and conditions under which the bonus is payable, subject to the requirements of this section and regulations of the Office.

(B) The terms and conditions for paying a bonus, as specified in the service agreement, shall include-