General Awards FAQs
Federal agencies are authorized to grant awards to
their employees to recognize and reward good performance.
Some frequently asked questions about Federal awards regulations include:
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What
forms can awards take for Federal employees? |
| Regulations provide
for four forms of awards that can be given to
Federal employees: lump-sum cash awards, honorary
awards, informal recognition awards, and time off
awards. |
 
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Are
there amount restrictions for granting cash
awards? |
| Yes. The Office of Personnel Management
must approve any cash award over $10,000. For awards over $25,000,
the President must approve the amount over $25,000. |
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What is the difference
between an "honorary award" and an "informal recognition award?" |
| Honorary awards are generally symbolic and
usually do not use monetary recognition at all. They are a gesture of
respect given to employees to recognize their performance and value to the
organization. Many agencies include this traditional form of high-level,
formal recognition as part of their overall incentive awards programs.
Informal recognition awards, on the other hand, are a type of award that
may be given to reward performance that otherwise might not merit an award
such as cash, time-off, or an honorary award. Agencies use these awards to
provide more frequent and timely informal recognition to employees. |
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Can
an award program cover both regular Federal
employees and contract employees? |
| No. Employees of
outside contractors may not receive direct
payments from the Federal Government. Their
employment, including pay, rewards, and
discipline, must be handled by their employer,
who is the contractor, not the Government. We are
aware that in some situations, Federal employees
and contract employees work side-by-side as
members of the same overall work teams. In such
cases, it might be desirable to use procurement
flexibilities to set up a parallel awards program
for the contract employees, which the contractor
would be required to fund and administer. Under
the terms of the contract, the Government could
make additional payments to the contractor
according to performance-related criteria
specified in the contract, to provide the funds
which the contractor would then distribute to the
contract employees. Setting up and operating such
a program would have to conform to procurement
regulations, limitations, and requirements.
Personal services contracts could also be written
to allow for performance-contingent payments. The
key issue is that such payments to individuals,
whether under personal services or non-personal
services contracts, would not be made
under the awards authorities in title 5, United
States Code. |
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Can
an award program cover both civilian and military
employees? |
| Yes, but only to the
extent that the program covers awards for
suggestions, inventions, or scientific
achievements. For those categories of awards, an
agency can choose to have a single program in
which both civilian and military employees can
participate or even a specific award for which
both might be eligible. Otherwise, for all other
types of awards authorized by chapter 45 of title
5, United States Code, military
employees are excluded. |
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Can
an agency grant an award to a private citizen? |
| It may be possible
to recognize the contributions of private
citizens to the Government, but it would not be
done under the awards programs authorized by
chapter 45 of title 5, United States Code. The
awards statute in title 5 only authorizes
granting awards to and recognition of Federal
employees. An agency head may have other general
authorizations and access to other funds for the
accomplishment of the agency's mission that might
be accessible for the recognition of private
citizens who have made significant contributions
to the completion of the agency's mission or the
improvement of the Government. |
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Can
an agency give awards to its Senior Executive
Service employees under the authority of subpart A of part 451
of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations? |
| Yes. Agencies can give Senior
Executive Service (SES) employees any awards under subpart A
of part 451 for which they qualify and are eligible. The specific
exception in the regulations at section 451.104(a)(3) of title 5,
Code of Federal Regulations, refers to performance awards because
there is a separate statutory and regulatory authority for granting
performance awards to SES employees. |
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Are
agencies required to set up suggestion award
programs? |
| Suggestion award
programs are not specifically required by law or
regulation. The Office of Personnel Management
(OPM) is aware that some agencies have redesigned
and streamlined their programs to reward employee
ideas and innovations. However, it is well to
remember that Congress established the suggestion
award authority as the foundation of all employee
incentive award authorities. Further, the program
is rooted in a presumption that Governmentwide—not just agencywide—benefits are to be determined
and rewarded. Consequently, OPM expects agencies
to extend their interdepartmental good will and
cooperate when suggestions are referred to them
from other agencies for evaluation and possible
adoption, even if the receiving agency has
curtailed formal procedures for its own
employees. Agencies that have retained their
existing submission and evaluation systems
rightfully expect reasonable consideration of
ideas their employees put forward. |
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