Pay in Addition to Salary

Premium pay is additional pay that is provided to eligible employees for additional work performed within certain hours or under certain conditions. There are several different types of premium pay. Employees paid under the Federal Wage System also receive premium pay but their premium pay is under different guidance.

Laws, Regulations, and HHS Guidance 

• 5 U.S.C. Part III Chapter 55, Subchapter V, Premium Pay Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• 5 U.S.C. Part III Chapter 61, Hours of Work Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• 5 CFR 550, Pay Administration (General) Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• 5 CFR 551, Pay Administration Under the Fair Labor Standards Act Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• 5 CFR 610, Hours of Duty Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• HHS Instruction 550-1. Premium Pay, dated 11/3/10 Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov  [PDF]
• HHS Instruction 550-3, Compensatory Time Off for Travel, dated 3/28/08 Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov  [PDF]
• HHS Instruction 550-11, Compensatory Time Off for Religious Observances, dated 3/13/95 Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov  [PDF]

OPM Guidance 

• How to Compute Rates of Pay Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• Biweekly Caps on Premium Pay Fact Sheet Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• Compensatory Time Off Fact Sheet Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• Compensatory Time Off for Travel Fact Sheet Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• Federal Holidays - Work Schedule and Pay Fact Sheet Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• How to Compute FLSA Overtime Pay Fact Sheet Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• Maximum GS Pay Limitations Fact Sheet Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• Night Pay Fact Sheet Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• Overtime Pay Fact Sheet Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• Premium Pay Overview Fact Sheet Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• Sunday Premium Pay Fact Sheet Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 

IHS Forms and Guidance 

• IHS Individual Overtime, Compensatory Time and Credit Hours Request Form [PDF - 824 KB]
• SOP-Biweekly and Annual Caps on Basic Pay and Premium Pay [PDF - 324 KB]
• Tracker for Biweekly/Annual Caps on the Sum of Basic Pay and Premium Pay [XLSX - 38 KB]
• 2026 GS Biweekly Pay Caps on Locality Pay Areas and Pharmacists/Psychologists [XLSX - 99 KB]

• Recruitment, retention and relocation incentives (commonly referred to as 3Rs) are designed to help IHS recruit and retain employees with high or unique qualifications in mission-critical positions. 

  Laws, Regulations, and HHS Guidance

  • 5 U.S.C. 5753, Recruitment and Relocation Bonuses Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
  • 5 U.S.C. 5754, Retention Bonuses Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
  • 5 C.F.R. 575, Recruitment, Relocation, and Retention Incentives Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
  • Instruction 575-1: Recruitment, Relocation and Retention Incentives Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 

  OPM Guidance

  • Recruitment, Relocation & Retention Incentives Overview Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
  • Oversight and Accountability Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
  • Recruitment Incentives Fact Sheet Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
  • Relocation Incentives Fact Sheet Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
  • Retention Incentives Fact Sheet Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
  • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on 3Rs Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
  • Calculating Maximum Recruitment and Relocation Incentives Fact Sheet Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
  • Payment and Termination Calculations for Recruitment and Relocation Incentives Fact Sheet Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
  • Group Retention Incentives Fact Sheet Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 

  IHS and Case Preparation Guidance

  • 3Rs Case Submission Content Checklist Overview  [PDF - 149 KB]
  • IHS Relocation & Recruitment Incentives Authorization, Service Agreement, & Justification  Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
  • IHS Initial and Lapsed Retention Incentive Authorization, Service Agreement, & Justification  Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
  • IHS Continuation, Percentage Change, or Termination of Retention Incentive  Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
  • Summary of IHS 3Rs Approval Levels [PDF - 107 KB]
  • Group Retention and Recruitment Incentives IHS Guidance [PDF - 285 KB]
  • Indian Health Manual, Personnel Delegation #41, Authority to Approve Recruitment, Relocation, and Retention Incentives
  • IHS Circular 23-21 Incentive Rates for IHS General, Civil and Environmental Engineers
  • IHS Circular 22-09 Incentive Rates for IHS Chief Executive Officers
  • IHS Circular 20-15 Incentive Rates for Clinical Laboratory Scientists
  • IHS Circular 18-08 Incentive Rates for IHS Nurses

Comparative salary survey data should be used to determine and defend appropriate compensation levels for federal employees in accordance with statutory and regulatory criteria. IHS has developed a Salary Survey Summary containing data on the most common IHS occupations, available on the IHS OHR SharePoint site (IHS network access required). This summary has salary survey data for use in benchmarking pay levels and evaluating compensation cases. In addition to the summary data, several occupation-specific salary survey reports are also posted. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provides free salary data for more than 800 occupations and can be used when other salary survey data is not available.