# HHS EMPLOYEE REFERRAL AWARD PROGRAM

## 

## PURPOSE: 

> To recruit high quality personnel in "hard to fill", mission critical,
> and high value positions.

## OBJECTIVE:

> To provide incentives or recognition for HHS employees who refer
> qualified external (i.e., non-HHS) candidates who are selected for
> employment.

## SUMMARY:

> A referral award may be given to an employee who helps HHS recruit new
> talent by referring external candidates for employment. The award may
> be granted in the form of a lump sum cash payment after HHS hires the
> candidate and he/she remains in the position for 90 days. Cash awards
> are taxable income and are subject to appropriate tax reporting and
> withholding.

## REFERENCES:

-   Title 5, United States Code, Chapter 45

-   Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 451

## ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES:

> All categories of HHS employees are eligible award recipients
> **EXCEPT** the following:

-   Employees in the human resources offices;

-   Employees in the supervisory or managerial line over the position
    filled;

-   Any employee who is involved in any way in the selection of the
    referred candidate (including Qualification Review Board Members,
    developers of selection criteria, recruitment teams, etc);

-   Any employee whose official duties include recruitment;

-   Commissioned Corps.

## 

## 

## INELIGIBLE CANDIDATES:

> The following job candidates will not qualify as referrals under this
> program:

-   Relatives (see NOTE below);

-   Current HHS employees;

-   Former HHS employees (who left HHS' employment less than 1 year
    ago);

-   Temporary appointments of less than 1 year (this includes all
    student appointments whether temporary or career);

-   Contractors who currently work for HHS or who worked for HHS within
    the past year;

-   Consultants who currently work for HHS or who worked for HHS within
    the past year;

-   Guest Workers/Researchers/Volunteers who currently work for HHS or
    who worked for HHS within the past year;

-   Special Government Employee (SGE's) who currently work for HHS, or
    who worked for HHS within the past year; and,

-   Advisory Committee Members who are currently on committees or who
    have been on committees within the past year.

**\
NOTE:** An HHS employee **cannot refer a \"relative\"** as defined at 5
U.S.C. 3110(a)(3) (that is, a father, mother, son, daughter, brother,
sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife,
father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law,
brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson,
stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, or half sister).

## POSITION ELIGIBILITY:

> Each OPDIV will determine at least annually the positions for which
> referral awards may be given in their organization. The new
> appointment may be career-conditional, career, or temporary (more than
> 1 year) under Title 5.

## 

## 

## 

## 

## ANNOUNCEMENT OF ELIGIBLE POSITIONS:

> Each OPDIV will send out a notice at least once annually via E-mail to
> all employees identifying which positions are eligible for a
> recruitment referral award.

## AMOUNT OF AWARD:

> Referral awards may be granted in the form of a lump sum cash payment
> after the referred candidate has actually entered on duty and remained
> in his/her position for 90 days. The award amounts will not exceed
> \$1,000 and should be determined by each OPDIV depending on the type
> of position being filled and the difficulty experienced with
> recruitment and retention.

## 

## TIMING OF AWARD:

> In order to receive the award, the referring HHS employee must be on
> the payroll (1) when the candidate is referred and hired and (2) at
> the time the award is made (except for referring employees who
> retire).
>
> The full amount of the cash award will be granted after the referred
> candidate has completed 90 days of service.

## LIMITS ON THE NUMBER OF AWARDS:

> There is no limit on the number of HHS Recruitment Referral Award
> incentives employees may receive.

## FUNDING

> The funding of this program should be governed by individual OPDIV
> appropriations for cash awards. For situations impacting more than one
> OPDIV, if an employee in one OPDIV recruits a candidate for a position
> in another OPDIV, the OPDIV hiring the referred candidate pays the
> referring employee\'s referral award.

## PROCEDURES / RECORDKEEPING:

> ***STEP 1*:** For each qualified candidate referred, the referring
> employee must complete Sections I and II of the HHS Employee Referral
> Award Form and give it to the referred candidate.
>
> ***STEP 2:*** The referred candidate will sign the HHS Employee
> Referral Award Form (Section II) certifying that the named individual
> did refer him/her, and is not a \"relative\" as defined at 5 U.S.C.
> 3110(a)(3), and upon hire, present the form to the supervisor when
> he/she reports for duty.
>
> ***STEP 3:*** The recruited employee\'s supervisor will complete
> Section III of the HHS Employee Referral Award Form certifying the
> date the employee entered on duty, provide the new employee's and
> referring employee's names on the HHS Referral Award Form. The
> supervisor will also complete the Recommendation for Cash Award Form
> (or the approved cash award form already in existence in the OPDIV).
> This form requests payment to the employee making the referral. The
> supervisor must forward the HHS Employee Referral Award Form and
> completed Recommendation for Cash Award Form (or the approved cash
> award form already in existence in the OPDIV) to the referring
> employee\'s servicing Human Resources Office for processing.
>
> ***STEP 4:*** The referring employee\'s servicing Human Resources
> Office will complete the bottom portion of the HHS Employee Referral
> Award Form certifying the referred applicant was hired and the date
> he/she actually entered on duty. The servicing Human Resources Office
> will process and report the award following the OPDIV's established
> awards reporting procedures. The servicing Human Resources Office will
> process the Recommendation for Cash Award Form (or the approved cash
> award form already in existence in his/her OPDIV) using **nature of
> action code 848** for employee referral cash awards.
>
> **Note:** Any employee who improperly makes promises of employment to
> candidates, or engages in inappropriate conduct as it relates to this
> program will be denied an award and may be subject to disciplinary
> action.