118 STAT. 2307 PUBLIC LAW 108–411—OCT. 30, 2004 basic pay of the employee at the beginning of the service period multiplied by the number of years (including a fractional part of a year, as determined under regulations of the Office) in the required service period of the employee involved. ‘‘(2) A bonus under this section may be paid as an initial lump sum, in installments, as a final lump sum upon the completion of the full period of service required by the agreement, or in a combination of these forms of payment. ‘‘(3) A bonus under this section is not part of the basic pay of an employee for any purpose. ‘‘(4) Under regulations of the Office, a recruitment bonus under this section may be paid to an eligible individual before that indi vidual enters on duty. ‘‘(e) The Office may authorize the head of an agency to waive the limitation under subsection (d)(1) based on a critical agency need, subject to regulations prescribed by the Office. Under such a waiver, the maximum bonus allowable shall— ‘‘(1) be equal to the maximum that would be determined if subsection (d)(1) were applied by substituting ‘50’ for ‘25’; but ‘‘(2) in no event exceed 100 percent of the annual rate of basic pay of the employee at the beginning of the service period. Nothing in this subsection shall be considered to permit the waiver of any requirement under subsection (c). ‘‘(f) The Office shall require that an agency establish a plan for the payment of recruitment bonuses before paying any such bonuses, and a plan for the payment of relocation bonuses before paying any such bonuses, subject to regulations prescribed by the Office. ‘‘(g) The Office may prescribe regulations to carry out this section, including regulations relating to the repayment of a bonus under this section in appropriate circumstances when the agreed upon service period has not been completed. ‘‘§ 5754. Retention bonuses ‘‘(a)(1) This section may be applied to— ‘‘(A) employees covered by the General Schedule pay system established under subchapter III of chapter 53; and ‘‘(B) employees in a category approved by the Office of Personnel Management at the request of the head of an Execu tive agency. ‘‘(2) A bonus may not be paid under this section to an individual who is appointed to or who holds— ‘‘(A) a position to which an individual is appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; ‘‘(B) a position in the Senior Executive Service as a non career appointee (as such term is defined under section 3132(a)); or ‘‘(C) a position which has been excepted from the competi tive service by reason of its confidential, policy determining, policy making, or policy advocating character. ‘‘(3) In this section, the term ‘employee’ has the meaning given that term in section 2105, except that such term also includes an employee described in subsection (c) of that section. ‘‘(b) The Office of Personnel Management may authorize the head of an agency to pay a retention bonus to an employee if—
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