Recruitment Incentive
This incentive allows a manager to request a payment of up to 100% of the annual rate of pay (including locality pay) to a newly appointed or reappointed employee, depending on the length of service agreement (25% per year for up to 2 years).* This may be used for positions that are hard to fill, when the candidate is well qualified and the candidate may not be a current federal employee. A service agreement will generally be used to state the conditions under which this incentive is being offered.
Relocation Incentive
A relocation incentive is a payment of up to 100% of the annual rate of pay (including locality) to a current federal employee accepting a position in a different commuting area, depending on the length of the service agreement (25% per year for up to 2 years).* This may be used for positions that are hard to fill when the candidate is well qualified and a current federal employee, to entice an employee to accept a hard-to-fill position in a different geographic area. To receive a relocation incentive, an employee must remain employed with your DoD Component for at least 12 months. In addition, the employee may only receive this incentive once he or she has established residence (for not less than six months or not more than two years) in the new location.
Superior Qualifications Appointments
Under this provision, a superior qualifications appointment involves setting pay higher than the Step 1 of the grade of an employee newly appointed or reappointed to the federal government. This is based on his or her superior qualifications or because the employee meets a special need of the agency. The possibility of using a recruitment incentive must be considered before using this appointment.
Student Loan Repayment
Used to repay federally insured student loans. May be used as a recruitment or retention incentive for candidates or current employees. Authorized payments must be based upon the authorized management official’s written determination that student loan repayments for the employee would enhance the command’s ability to carry out its mission, and may be based on funding availability and performance. There is a maximum of $10,000 for an employee in a calendar year and a lifetime total of not more than $60,000 for any one employee. To receive a student loan repayment, the employee must sign a service agreement of at least three years. The service agreement will state the amount of the loan repayment authorized for each year of the recipient’s service requirement.
Credit for Prior Non-Federal Work Experience and Certain Military Service for Determining Leave Accrual Rate
This incentive offers annual leave accrual for directly related experience in non-Federal or active duty Military Service positions when such credit would serve as an incentive to acquire high quality talent for positions that are important to mission accomplishment or achievement of performance goals. The employee must be receiving his or her first appointment (regardless of tenure) as a civilian employee of the Federal Government or be reappointed following a break in service of at least 90 calendar days after his or her last period of civilian Federal employment to be considered for annual leave accrual. Annual leave service credit must be approved before the effective date of initial appointment or reappointment.