OPM issues guide to bonuses for recruitment, retention

Work is underway at the Office of Personnel Management on constructing newer and more flexible rules on when and how agencies can give out recruitment and retention bonuses. But before ushering in the new, OPM has published an online guide explaining the current rules of rewards for confused federal managers.

The guide, in question-and-answer format, is available online at: http://www.opm.gov/oca/pay/html/q&arrr.htm . It answers the most frequently asked questions about giving cash rewards for recruitment and retention.

According to an OPM spokesperson, the online guide was published to remind agencies of the options available to them under current law. A 1999 OPM report, "The 3Rs: Lessons Learned from Recruitment, Relocation and Retention Incentives," revealed that federal agencies weren't using the tools available to them for recruiting and retaining new employees.

Current legislation allows agencies to offer lump-sum recruitment bonuses only to newly appointed employees-not those who already work for the government. Retention bonuses can now only be offered in special circumstances to keep employees with unique qualifications from leaving government. Retention, recruitment and one-time relocation bonuses are capped at 25 percent of an employee's annual rate of basic pay.

But under draft legislation currently being developed at OPM, agencies could offer bigger bonuses based on how long an employee agrees to work and pay bonuses in installments, rather than in lump sums. Agencies could also offer recruitment bonuses to entice current employees to accept hard-to-fill jobs, and exceed the bonus caps in special circumstances, such as to fill critical staffing needs.