118 STAT. 2306 PUBLIC LAW 108–411—OCT. 30, 2004 ‘‘(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 bonus under this section to an individual only if— ‘‘(1) the position to which such individual is appointed (as described in paragraph (2)(A)) or to which such individual moves or must relocate (as described in paragraph (2)(B)) is likely to be difficult to fill in the absence of such a bonus; and ‘‘(2) the individual— ‘‘(A) is newly appointed as an employee of the Federal Government; or ‘‘(B)(i) is currently employed by the Federal Govern ment; and ‘‘(ii)(I) moves to a new position in the same geographic area under circumstances described in regulations of the Office; or ‘‘(II) must relocate to accept a position in a different geographic area. ‘‘(c)(1) Payment of a bonus under this section shall be contingent upon the employee entering into a written service agreement to complete a period of employment with the agency, not longer than 4 years. The Office may, by regulation, prescribe a minimum service period for purposes of this section. ‘‘(2)(A) The agreement shall include— ‘‘(i) the commencement and termination dates of the required service period (or provisions for the determination thereof); ‘‘(ii) the amount of the bonus; ‘‘(iii) the method of payment; and ‘‘(iv) other terms and conditions under which the bonus is payable, subject to the requirements of this section and regulations of the Office. ‘‘(B) The terms and conditions for paying a bonus, as specified in the service agreement, shall include— ‘‘(i) the conditions under which the agreement may be terminated before the agreed upon service period has been com pleted; and ‘‘(ii) the effect of the termination. ‘‘(C) The required service period shall commence upon the commencement of service with the agency or movement to a new position or geographic area, as applicable, unless the service agree ment provides for a later commencement date in circumstances and to the extent allowable under regulations of the Office, such as when there is an initial period of formal basic training. ‘‘(d)(1) Except as provided in subsection (e), a bonus under this section shall not exceed 25 percent of the annual rate of Contracts.
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