Workforce Management Office (WFMO) Serving NOAA's Most Valuable Asset - People
NOAA Supervisory Resource Guide
How and When Do I Use the Recruitment, Relocation, and Retention (3Rs) Incentives?
Typical Scenarios:
You
need to fill a position which has been difficult to fill
in the past
because
of special requirements
because
of the work location
You
are facing losing an employee with mission-critical skills
who cannot easily be replaced
Principle: Recruiting and retaining highly qualified employees is critical to meeting your mission and goals. The 3Rs can help you deal with the "supply & demand" challenges in the Federal job market. In other words, you could offer one of the "Rs" as a monetary incentive, if in doing so, you persuade an applicant to work for NOAA, or keep a NOAA employee from leaving.
Where
Do I Start? First, you determine your need, and then you find out whether your organization has the budget to fund a recruitment, relocation or retention incentive. Next, you contact your servicing Workforce Management Office Advisor who can help you document your request.
Rules and Flexibilities:
Recruitment
and Relocation Incentives may be paid when, in the absence of the incentive, it would be difficult to fill a position with a highly qualified employee. These incentives may not exceed 25% of the employee’s annual rate of basic pay in effect at the beginning of the service period multiplied by the number of years (including fractions of a year) in the service period (not to exceed 4 years). (With OPM approval, this cap may be increased to 50% based on a critical agency need, as long as the total incentive does not exceed 100% of the employee’s annual rate of basic pay at the beginning of the service period.) The incentives may be paid as an initial lump-sum payment at the beginning of the service period, in installments throughout the service period, as a final lump-sum payment upon completion of the service period, or a combination of these methods. A determination to pay a recruitment or relocation incentive is based on such factors as:
the availability and quality of candidates possessing the competencies required for the position, including the success of recent recruitment efforts to recruit candidates for the position or similar positions using indicators such as offer acceptance rates, proportion of positions filled, and the length of time required to fill similar positions;
the salaries typically paid outside the Federal Government for similar positions;
recent turnover in similar positions;
employment trends and labor market factors that may affect the agency’s ability to recruit candidates for similar positions;
special or unique competences required for the position;
agency efforts to use non-pay authorities, such as special training and work scheduling flexibilities, to resolve difficulties alone or in combination with a recruitment/relocation incentive;
the desirability of the duties, work or organizational environment, or geographic location of the position; and
other supporting factors.
Service agreements: Before receiving an incentive, an employee must sign a written agreement to complete a specified period of employment. The required service period may not be less than 6 months or longer than 4 years. For a recruitment incentive, the commencement of the service period must begin upon the commencement of service with the agency and end on the last day of a pay period. For a relocation incentive, the service period must begin upon the commencement of service at the new duty station and end on the last day of a pay period. Before a relocation incentive may be paid, the employee must establish a residence in the new geographic area.
Retention
Incentives may be paid to a current employee if it is determined that the unusually high or unique qualifications of the employee or a special need of the agency for the employee’s services makes it essential to retain the employee and that the employee would be likely to leave the Federal service in the absence of a retention incentive. A retention incentive may also be paid to a current employee who would be likely to leave for a different federal position when the agency determines:
given the agency’s mission requirements and the employee’s competencies, the agency has a special need for the employee’s services that makes it essential to retain the employee in his or her current position during a period of time before the closure or relocation of the employee’s office, facility, or organization; and
the employee would be likely to leave for a different position in the Federal service in the absence of a retention incentive.
Agencies must establish a single retention incentive rate for the employee, expressed as a percentage of the employee’s rate of basic pay. A retention incentive rate may not exceed 25% for an individual employee or 10% for a group or category of employees. (With OPM approval, this cap may be increased to 50% based on a critical agency need). A retention incentive may not be paid as an initial lump-sum payment at the start of a service period or in advance of fulfilling the service period for which the retention incentive is received. A retention incentive installment payment may be computed at the full retention incentive percentage rate or at a reduced rate with the excess deferred for payment at the end of the full service period.
The basic
criteria that must be met before an employee is approved
for a retention incentive are:
the unusually high or unique qualifications (i.e., competencies) of the employee or a special need of the agency for the employee’s services makes it essential to retain the employee;
the employee’s current rating of record is at least “fully successfully” or equivalent; and
the employee would be likely to leave Federal service in the absence of a retention incentive.
Other criteria include:
employment trends and labor market factors such as the availability and quality of candidates in the labor market possessing the competencies required for the position and who, with minimal training, cost, or disruption of service to the public, could perform the full range of duties and responsibilities of the employee’s position at the level performed by the employee;
the success of recent efforts to recruit candidates and retain employees with competencies similar to those possessed by the employee for positions similar to the position held by the employee;
special or unique competencies required by the position;
agency efforts to use non-pay authorities to help retain the employee instead of or in addition to a retention incentive, such as special training and work scheduling flexibilities or improving working conditions;
the desirability of the duties, work or organizational environment or geographic location of the position;
the extent to which the employee’s departure would affect the agency’s ability to carry out an activity to perform a function, or complete a project that the agency deems essential to the organization’s mission;
the salaries typically paid outside the Federal Government; and
other supporting factors.
Service agreement: Before receiving a retention incentive, an employee must sign a written agreement to complete a specified period of service with the agency. The service period must begin on the first day of a pay period and end on the last day of a pay period.
Basic Steps: Once you have established that your organization has the funding for an incentive you must justify your request in writing. Your servicing WFM Advisor will provide advice for preparing your request. The written request must come from the manager in your organization who has the authority to approve the funding for the incentive.
Approval Authority:
For positions covered by the Commerce Alternative Personnel System, managers who have been delegated authority through their Line or Staff Office Operating Personnel Management Board, have the authority to approve recruitment and relocation incentives up to $10,000. Requests that are approved by the authorized management official must be submitted to the servicing Workforce Management Office along with the service agreement signed by the employee and any other required documentation (e.g., SF-52, Request for Personnel Action). The servicing Workforce Management Office will review the request to ensure it meets the requirements of the regulations and will process the action.
For all other positions, requests for recruitment and relocation incentives up to $10,000 are submitted to your servicing Workforce Management Office for approval by the NOAA WFMO Director, Client Services Office.
All requests for recruitment and relocation incentives beyond $10,000 and all retention incentives must be submitted to the servicing WFMO for review to ensure the request meets the requirements of the regulation. The servicing WFMO will submit the request to the Department of Commerce, Office of Human Resources Management for approval. In all cases, no commitment may be made to a candidate or employee until the incentive has been approved. The process may be done electronically to expedite approval. Once approved, the manager must complete the service agreement, obtain the employee’s signature and provide the agreement to the service Workforce Management Office for processing the request along with any other required documentation (e.g., SF-52, Request for Personnel Action).
Good Management Practices: Be sure that your justification is related to organizational needs.
Checklist:
Determine
need
Establish
funding availability
Gather
documentation
Promptly
prepare justification
Review
your memo to ensure it meets criteria
Obtain
decision to support your request by appropriate management
level
Complete Service Agreement and obtain employee’s signature
