345.1 Retention Incentive Considerations
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DIRECTIVE
SURVEY MANUAL CHAPTER – ADMINISTRATION SERIES
Issuance Number: 345.1
Subject: Retention Incentive Considerations
Issuance Date: 4/4/2022
Expiration Date: 4/5/2027
Responsible Office: Office of Administration, Office of Human Capital
Instruction: This is a new Survey Manual (SM) chapter.
Approving Official: /s/ Roseann Gonzales-Schreiner
Deputy Director for Administration and Policy
1. Purpose and Scope. This SM chapter provides policy and procedural guidance for retention incentive considerations not addressed elsewhere. Student loan repayment may also be used as a retention incentive. Detailed information on student loan repayment can be found on the USGS Hiring Incentives website at https://www.usgs.gov/human-capital/usgs-hiring-incentives. Retention incentives can be used alone or combined.
2. Authority. 5 United States Code 5754, 5 Code of Federal Regulations Part 575, Subpart C.
3. References. 5 Code of Federal Regulations Part 575, Subpart C; Personnel Bulletin No. 06-01 Departmental Policy on Recruitment, Relocation, and Retention Incentives.
4. Definitions.
A. Retention Incentive – An incentive that can be paid to a current employee when 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 in the absence of an incentive.
B. Justification – The written description of the unusually high or unique qualifications or special need of the agency for an employee’s services that supports the need to offer a retention incentive.
C. Retention – Retaining an employee’s services in lieu of them leaving the Federal Government for a position in the private sector.
D. Qualifications – The knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies needed to successfully perform in a position.
5. Policy.
A. Basis of Incentive. A retention incentive may be authorized when an employee possesses unusually high or unique qualifications with sustained high-quality performance, or a special need for the employee’s service makes it essential to retain the individual to accomplish mission critical work; and the employee would likely leave the Federal Government in the absence of a retention incentive. Employees are eligible after a minimum of one year of service with the USGS and receiving a satisfactory performance review. The employee must maintain at least a fully successful performance rating for the duration a retention incentive is authorized.
B. Limits. A retention incentive must not exceed 25% of an employee’s annual salary or 10% for a group or category of employees with Bureau level approval. With approval by the Office of Personnel Management, the cap may be increased up to 50% based on critical need. The following methods can be used for payment of a retention incentive:
(1) Biweekly Installments along with the employee’s salary. No service agreement is required with this option.
(2) Paid in installments after the completion of specified periods of service within the duration of the service period.
(3) Single lump-sum after completion of the service period.
(4) Retention incentives cannot be paid as an initial lump-sum at the start of a service period or in advance of fulfilling the service period.
C. Service Agreement. Before receiving a retention incentive, an employee must sign a written agreement to complete a specified period of service with the Department of the Interior. A written service agreement is not required if the retention incentive is paid in biweekly installments and sets the biweekly installment payment at the full retention incentive percentage rate established for the employee.
D. Factors to Consider. A retention incentive must only produce an offer of compensation sufficiently competitive to retain an employee. The requesting official must consider the following factors when determining the need for a retention incentive as well as the amount to be offered:
(1) Availability of Funds. The requesting official must ensure that funds are available to cover the additional cost for the anticipated duration that the retention incentive is necessary. Additionally, the retention incentive must be cleared through the Administrative Officer/Budget Analyst for the Center/Office.
(2) Consistency. The requesting official must justify the reasoning for a specific employee to receive a retention incentive. The Regional/Senior Management Official and (or) Regional/Associate Director must review the proposed retention incentive to ensure consistency across their Region/Mission Area and employee morale is not being negatively impacted to the extent practicable.
(3) Continuation of Federal Service. In determining if a retention incentive is needed, the requesting official must consider whether the employee has received job offers from outside the Federal Government. This can help support the justification for the retention incentive. Job offers for other Federal positions cannot be used as the basis for a retention incentive. If the employee has not received job offers from outside the Federal Government, the requesting official must provide a thorough explanation for why it is likely the employee will leave the Federal Government in the absence of a retention incentive. For example, the justification may be based on such evidence as personal knowledge that the employee is actively seeking outside employment and the competitive labor market conditions make it likely that efforts will yield positive results for the employee. Occupational and wage statistics can be found on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website at https://www.bls.gov/OES/.
(4) Recent Recruitment Efforts. The requesting official must consider whether there has been any recent turnover in the Center/Office for the type of position for which a retention incentive is being requested. If so, the justification must describe the difficulty recruiting and retaining candidates who possess the unique qualification equal to those possessed by the employee for which a retention incentive is being considered. The requesting official must not significantly deviate from the typical salary range for similar positions outside of the Federal Government based on salary surveys and the current labor market.
6. Responsibilities.
A. Office of Administration. The Office of Administration is responsible for overseeing the retention incentive program through the Office of Human Capital.
B. Office of Human Capital. The Office of Human Capital is responsible for:
(1) Advising and consulting with managers and supervisors on the use of incentives.
(2) Reviewing requests for retention incentives to ensure compliance with applicable regulations and policies and for monitoring incentives across the Bureau to provide information to leadership to ensure the policy is being consistently applied.
(3) Entering the final request and supporting documentation into the correspondence system for routing to the appropriate Deputy Director or Director for consideration/surname.
C. Regional/Senior Management Officials and (or) Regional Directors/Associate Directors. These management officials are responsible for:
(1) Ensuring that the use of retention incentives is consistently applied across their respective Region or Mission Area.
(2) Regional/Associate Directors are responsible for reviewing and endorsing all requests for retention incentives within their Region or Mission Area. The request is then forwarded to the servicing HR Office.
D. Office of the Director. The Deputy Director for Administration and Policy will serve as the final approving official for all retention incentive requests. When a request is for an employee who resides in an organization that reports to the Deputy Director for Operations or the USGS Director, those offices will review the request, ensure adherence to the policy and procedural guidance, and surname the request indicating their concurrence or non-concurrence before it goes forward for final review and approval from the Deputy Director for Administration and Policy.
7. Written Justification Requirements. The written request for a retention incentive must address the following factors:
A. The extent to which the employee’s departure would affect the Center’s/Office’s ability to carry out an activity or perform a mission critical function;
B. The special or unique qualifications/skills needed to perform the duties of the position;
C. The special or unique qualifications/skills possessed by the employee that makes them highly qualified for the position or the special need that exists that supports retaining the employee;
D. Information concerning management’s knowledge that the employee is seeking outside employment and is likely to leave the Federal Government (for example, a copy of a bona fide job offer including salary from the private sector). In those cases where a tentative job offer does not specify salary, documentation of the typical salary range for similar positions outside of the Federal Government based on salary surveys and the current labor market are acceptable;
E. The employee’s current official rating of record with USGS. Note: The maximum incentive allowed will depend on the employee’s rating of record as indicated in below table;
F. The quality and availability of the potential sources of employees that are identified in any agency succession plan who also possess the competencies required for the position, and who, with minimal training, cost, and 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;
G. The reasons the position is difficult to fill with a highly qualified candidate (to include length of time required to fill similar positions, recent turnover, and labor market conditions); and
H. The criteria or rationale for the amount of the retention incentive and how the requesting official applied these criteria.
8. Determining Amount of Retention Incentive. The following chart serves as a reference in determining the retention incentive amount. A higher incentive may be requested with the appropriate written justification. Salary surveys and current labor market conditions that apply to the area where the position is located should be considered as well in deciding the amount.
Occupational and wage statistics can be found on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website at https://www.bls.gov/OES/. If a bona find job offer from the private sector has been received by the employee, that may also be considered. The years of experience identified in the chart below refers to experience specific to the position for which the employee’s services need to be retained.
| Years of Experience | Retention Percentage |
| 1-5 Years | Up to 15% |
| 6-10 Years | Up to 20% |
| 11+ Years | Up to 25% |
9. Annual Reevaluation. The methodology for determining the incentive amount applies to all retention incentives submitted for initial approval as well as part of the annual review to determine if the incentive is still required. Requests to continue a retention incentive for another year must be submitted through the Office of Human Capital to the appropriate Deputy Director or Director for consideration/concurrence - non-concurrence/surname unless it was submitted and approved as a multi-year incentive under this policy.
10. Succession Planning. In an attempt to minimize the need for retention incentives, managers and supervisors should continually evaluate their workforce to identify gaps in skills, especially for hard-to-fill or highly technical positions. The succession planning process is a tool that can be utilized to identify those gaps and help to develop a plan to accomplish the work in the event an employee occupying a hard-to-fill or highly technical position retires or leaves.
11. Other Available Incentives. There are a variety of other incentives that can be used for recruitment and retention purposes such as recruitment incentive, relocation incentive, student loan repayment, superior qualifications appointment, and creditable service of non-federal experience toward leave accrual. Detailed information on each of these and other incentives can be found on the USGS Hiring Incentives website at https://www.usgs.gov/human-capital/usgs-hiring-incentives.