§5753. Recruitment and relocation bonuses

(a) The Office of Personnel Management may authorize the head of an agency to pay a bonus to an employee who is newly appointed to a position under the General Schedule, or to an employee under the General Schedule or under any other pay authority in the executive, legislative, or judicial branch who must relocate to accept a position under the General Schedule, if the Office determines that the agency would be likely, in the absence of such a bonus, to encounter difficulty in filling the position.

(b)(1)(A) The amount of a bonus under this section shall be determined by regulations of the Office, but may not exceed 25 percent of the annual rate of basic pay of the position to which the employee is being appointed or relocated.

(B) For purposes of computing a percentage of a rate of basic pay under subparagraph (A), the rate of basic pay used shall be determined without taking into account any comparability payment under section 5304.

(2) Payment of a bonus under this section shall be contingent upon the employee entering into an agreement with the agency to complete a period of employment with the agency, with the required period determined pursuant to regulations of the Office. If the employee voluntarily fails to complete such period of service or is separated from the service before completion of such period of service for cause on charges of misconduct or delinquency, the employee shall repay the bonus on a pro rata basis.

(3) A bonus under this section shall be paid as a lump sum, and may not be considered to be part of the basic pay of an employee.

(4) Under regulations of the Office, a recruitment bonus may be paid to a newly-hired employee before the employee enters on duty.

(c) For the purpose of this section-

(1) the terms "agency" and "employee" have the meanings given them by section 5102; and

(2) any reference to "a position under the General Schedule" or "an employee under the General Schedule" shall be considered to be a reference to any position or employee to which subchapter III of chapter 53 applies.

(d) The Office shall prescribe such regulations as it considers necessary for the administration of subsections (a) through (c).

(e) At the request of the head of an Executive agency, the President may authorize the application of the preceding provisions of this section with respect to 1 or more categories of employees within such agency who would not otherwise be covered by this section (including authority under subsection (d) to prescribe any necessary regulations).

(Added Pub. L. 101–509, title V, §529 [title II, §208(a)], Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1427 , 1458.)

Effective Date

Section effective on such date as the President shall determine, but not earlier than 90 days, and not later than 180 days, after Nov. 5, 1990, see section 529 [title III, §305] of Pub. L. 101–509, set out as an Effective Date of 1990 Amendment note under section 5301 of this title.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in section 5307 of this title; title 38 section 7410.