Incentive Rates for Indian Health Service General Engineers (0801), Civil Engineers (0810), and Environmental Engineers (0819)

Refer to: OHR

1. PURPOSE.    The purpose of this Circular is to establish the Indian Health Service (IHS) policy and procedures on paying General Engineer (0801), Civil Engineer (0810), and Environmental Engineer (0819) candidates or employees up to 50 percent of the rate of basic pay in recruitment, relocation, and retention (3Rs) incentives on a case-by-case basis.
2. AUTHORITY.    The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), in a memorandum dated July 6, 2023, gave the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the authority to waive the 25 percent limit, as set forth by 5 C.F.R. Part 575, for 3Rs incentives for General Engineers (0801), Civil Engineers (0810), and Environmental Engineers (0819) employed by the IHS. This waiver provides incentives at 26-50 percent of the rate of basic pay for current and newly appointed General Schedule and Senior Executive Service employees at any grade level and at any location. The waiver will be applied in accordance with the requirements of applicable law, regulations, and HHS Instruction 575-1, dated September 30, 2013.
3. REQUIREMENTS.    Requirements relating to 3Rs incentives over 25 percent include the following:
   1. Documenting in writing each determination to pay an incentive to an individual employee as required by 5 C.F.R. § 575.108, § 575.208, and § 575.308;
   2. Requiring all 3Rs incentives recipients, including retention incentive recipients, sign a service agreement, as required by 5 C.F.R. § 575.110, § 575.210, § 575.309(e)(4), and § 575.310;
   3. Paying a retention incentive only after an appropriate official has substantiated that a current employee is likely to leave Federal service if the incentive is not provided;
   4. Adhering to processing and reporting requirements in the Guide to Processing Personnel Actions (to include correct authority codes);
   5. Adhering to the aggregate limitation on pay under 5 U.S.C. § 5307; and
   6. Enforcing applicable repayment requirements when an employee fails to fulfill the service agreement.
4. PROCEDURES.   
   1. The supervisor of the candidate or employee completes the applicable IHS 3Rs forms with complete responses for all text boxes (forms can be obtained on the IHS Office of Human Resources (OHR) Pay website). The Authorized Agency Official/Approving Official on the forms will be the IHS Deputy Director for Management Operations (DDMO). The Human Resources Officer on the forms will be the Director, Headquarters (HQ) OHR. Therefore, the supervisor should leave those signature lines blank.
   2. The supervisor, through the Area-specific routing protocols, submits the completed IHS 3Rs forms; a memorandum addressing the unique and critical reasons why the incentive amount is necessary, and how the particular incentive rate was determined; and applicable supporting documentation on the local labor market, vacancy rates, turnover rates, job offers, etc.
   3. While intermediate approvals may be obtained based on Area-specific protocols, the Area Director will be the final Area-level reviewer. The Area Director will sign the 3Rs forms as the Recommending Official.
   4. Once the Area Director signs, the 3Rs incentive request package is forwarded to HQ OHR compensation staff.
   5. The OHR compensation staff reviews the request for completeness and adherence to law, regulations, and policy and then routes the request to the OHR Director for review and signature.
   6. The OHR compensation staff sends the request package to the DDMO for review and approval, with the DDMO serving as the Authorized Agency Official/Approving Official on the forms.
      
      Also note that when recruiting for a specific hard-to-fill General Engineer (0801), Civil Engineer (0810), and Environmental Engineer (0819) position, a statement that a higher incentive rate is possible may be included (but is not required) in the Job Opportunity Announcement.
5. EFFECTIVE DATE.    This Circular becomes effective on the date of signature.

Distribution: IHS-wide
Date: 11/03/23