Recruitment, Relocation and Retention Incentives

Under 5 CFR 575.208(a)(2), agencies must authorize payment of relocation incentives on a case-by-case basis for each employee. However, 5 CFR 575.208(b) allows agencies to waive the case-by-case approval requirement when a group of employees is subject to a mobility agreement and the agency determines that relocation incentives are necessary to retain these employees to ensure a continuation of operations, or when a major organizational unit of the agency is relocated to a new duty station and the agency determines that relocation incentives are necessary for a group of employees to ensure the continued operation of that unit without undue disruption of an activity or function that is deemed essential to the agency's mission or without undue disruption of service to the public.

All requirements in the regulations and the agency's relocation incentive plan must be met to pay a relocation incentive to an individual employee in the covered group. For example, agencies may authorize relocation incentives of up to 25 percent of basic pay, and each employee must relocate to a difficult-to-fill position, establish a residence in the new geographic area prior to payment of the incentive, and sign a service agreement.