(1) Executive departments; (2) Independent establishments and agencies in the executive branch, including corporations wholly owned by the United States;

(3) The Administrative Office of the United States Courts;

(4) The Library of Congress; (5) The Botanic Garden; (6) The Government Printing Office; (7) The General Accounting Office; (8) The municipal Government of the District of Columbia.

(b) Agencies not covered. This part does not cover:

(1) The Tennessee Valley Authority; (2) The field service of the Post Office Department;

(3) Physicians, dentists, nurses, and other employees in the Department of Medicine and Surgery in the Veterans' Administration paid under 38 U.S.C. 73;

(4) The Foreign Service of the United States under the Department of State; (5) Production credit corporations; (6) Federal intermediate credit banks; (7) Federal land banks;

(8) Banks for cooperatives;

(9) Employees of the municipal government of the District of Columbia who are not paid under the Classification Act of 1949, as amended;

(10) The Atomic Energy Commission; (11) Employees outside the continental limits of the United States paid in accordance with local native prevailing wage rates for the area in which employed;

(12) The Central Intelligence Agency;

§ 430.301

Establishment and jurisdiction of boards.

The head of each agency covered by this part shall establish, with the approval of the Civil Service Commission, one or more boards to consider and pass on the merits of performance ratings under rating plans established under the Performance Rating Act of 1950. The jurisdiction of each board shall be specific and exclusive of that of any other board.

§ 430.302 Members of boards.

(a) Designation. Each board shall be composed of a chairman designated by the Commission, an employee member designated in a manner approved by the Commission, and an agency member designated by authority of the agency head. One or more alternate members shall be provided for each department member, each alternate being designated in the same manner as his principal.

(b) Branch of Government. Members and alternate members of boards serving agencies in the executive branch of the Government shall be officers or employees of that branch. Members and alternate members of boards (except chairmen and alternate chairmen) serving agencies outside the executive branch shall be designated from the branch to which those agencies respectively belong.

may obtain within his agency the one impartial review provided by law, or may appeal directly to the appropriate board, or may appeal to the board after obtaining the impartial review.

(b) Satisfactory or better rating. An employee with a satisfactory or better performance rating may obtain either within his agency the one impartial review provided by law, or he may appeal to the appropriate board, but not both.

(c) Time limits on appeals. An appeal to a board shall be made to the chairman of the board. The appeal shall be in writing and shall be submitted within:

(1) Thirty days after the employee receives notice of his rating; or

(2) Fifteen days after the employee withdraws his request for the impartial review within his agency, when more than 30 days have elapsed since he received notice of his rating; or

(3) Thirty days after the employee receives his agency's decision on the impartial review of an unsatisfactory rating.

(d) Extension of time limit. Boards may waive the time limits in paragraph (c) of this section for good and sufficient reasons.

[28 F.R. 10074, Sept. 14, 1963, as amended at 32 F.R. 16475, Dec. 1, 1967]

(a) Oral hearing. The chairman or alternate chairman of a board shall preside at an oral hearing held to obtain information needed to determine the merits of an appealed rating, and shall rule on questions arising at the hearing.

(b) Conduct of hearing. The appellant and his representative, and representatives designated under authority of the agency head, may attend the hearing. These parties may submit any information the board finds pertinent; and may hear, examine, and reply to information received by the board. The board shall find pertinent the record of any prior review of an appealed rating.

(c) Stenographic report. A stenographic report of an oral hearing shall be required only when the board unanimously votes it necessary to the best interests of the Government and the employee.

(d) Hearing waived. With the appellant's consent, the board may consider his appeal on the basis of written information submitted by both parties without oral hearing.

(a) The decision. The board shall consider the pertinent facts in an appeal and by majority vote either (1) increase the appealed rating, or (2) sustain the appealed rating without change.

(b) Notice of decision. The board's decision shall be in writing and shall contain a summary statement of the facts on which it based its decision. The board shall send a copy of the decision to the appellant, to the head of the agency, and to the Commission.

§ 430.404 Effect of decision.

When an agency receives notice of a board's increase in an employee's rating, the agency shall correct all records of the original rating, shall reconsider any and all administrative actions based on the original rating, and insofar as possible under the law and regulations and in the public interest, redetermine and adjust those administrative actions to conform to the corrected rating.

The policy of the Civil Service Commission in administering the Government Employees' Incentive Awards Act is to:

(a) Establish broad principles and standards for the administration of the Incentive Awards Program;

(b) Delegate to heads of departments authority to establish and operate incentive awards plans consistent with these principles and standards;

(c) Help department officials develop effective programs;

(d) Encourage exchange of contributions among departments; and

(e) Review operation of agency plans to strengthen the Government Employees' Incentive Awards Program.

§ 451.103 Definitions.

In this part:

(a) "Act" means the Government Employees' Incentive Awards Act, as amended, 68 Stat. 1112; 5 U.S.C. 2121. (b) "Department" means an executive department, an independent agency in the executive branch of the Government, a Government owned or controlled corporation (but not the Tennessee Valley Authority or the Central Bank for Cooperatives), the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, the Library of Congress, the Botanic Gardens, the Government Printing Office, the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, and the municipal government of the District of Columbia.

(c) "Government" means the Government of the United States and the government of the District of Columbia.

(d) "Employee" means a cilivian officer of, and an individual employed by a department.

(e) "Plan" means a written statement giving effect to the Act, this Part, and the instructions of the Civil Service Commission concerning the incentive awards program, which has been approved by the head of a department issuing the plan.

(f) "Contribution" means:

(1) An employee's suggestion, invention, superior accomplishment, or other personal effort contributing to the efficiency, economy, or other improvement of Government operations; and

(2) An employee's special act or service in the public interest, connected with or related to his official employment.

(g) "Incentive award or award" means either a cash award, an honorary award, or both.

(h) "Honorary award" means an incentive award granted by the head of a department in the form of a certificate, emblem, pin, or other item the employee can wear or display.

(i) "Departmental award” means an incentive award granted by the head of a department for an approved contribution from an employee of that department.

(j) "Interdepartmental award" means an incentive award granted by the head of a department for an approved contribution from an employee or employees of another department.

(k) "Presidential award" means an award granted by the President under section 304(b) of the Act.

Subpart B-Department Plans

§ 451.201 Department plans.

(a) Establishment and change. The head of each department shall establish and operate a plan to use incentive awards as an integral part of supervision and management, and shall submit any new plan or a change in a plan to the Commission within 30 days of the effective date of the plan or the change.

(b) Authority for awards. The head of a department may grant a departmental or interdepartmental award for a contribution, to an employee, a former employee, or the estate of a deceased employee.

(c) Department administration. Each plan must provide for:

(1) Central administrative direction and review;

(2) Delegation to bureaus, offices, and field units, of authority and responsibility adequate to insure maximum compliance with the purposes of the Act and with this Part;

(3) Consideration of the applicability of employee contributions throughout the department; and

(4) Referral to the appropriate department or to the Commision of contributions that may apply to other departments.

§ 451.202 Awards, promotions, and recognition.

The head of each department shall provide that:

(a) Due weight be given to incentive awards granted under the Incentive Awards Program when qualifying and selecting for promotion employees who meet the Commission's requirements for promotion; and

(b) Recognition be given to supervisors for the extent of their success in motivating their employees' interests and participation in the Incentive Awards Program.

§ 451.203 Stimulating participation.

To obtain maximum value from the Incentive Awards Program, the head of each department shall emphasize to supervisors and employees the need for their active participation in improving Government operations.

§ 451.204 Prompt action on contributions.

The head of each department shall provide for prompt action on contributions to encourage maximum employee participation, and to obtain all possible benefit to the Government.

§ 451.205 Documentation of action.

The head of each department shall provide that action on a contribution be adequately documented.

been approved by the benefiting department. The contribution must have been made while the contributor was a Government employee, and must be described in writing.

§ 451.302

Cash award, tangible benefits. (a) The award. A department may grant an employee a cash award of $15 or more for a contribution that exceeds job requirements and that results in tangible benefits of $50 or more. The amount of the award is based usually on the estimated net money benefit for the first year the contribution is used and is determined by the table in paragraph (b) of this section, except that a department head for special reasons may decide a different amount is justified. He must document his reasons in support of the different amount.

(b) Award scale. The amount of a cash award must be based on the following table except when a different amount is justified for special reasons:

Tangible Benefits $50-$300---. $301-$10,000__.

Amount of Award

$15.

$15 for the first $300 in benefits, $5 for each additional $100 or fraction thereof.

$10,001-$20,000--- $500 for the first $10,000

in benefits and $5 for each additional $200 or fraction thereof.

$20,001-$100,000-- $750 for the first $20,000 in benefits and $5 for each additional $1,000 or fraction thereof. $1,150 for the first $100,000 in benefits and $5 for each additional $5,000 or fraction thereof.

$100,001 or more..

contribution, its significance, and the importance of the programs it affects. A department may grant the minimum cash award of $15 when the contribution compares favorably with one that meets the minimum requirement in § 451.302.

(c) Department guides on intangible benefits. The head of each department shall provide as part of his plan, guidelines and criteria on which to base the amounts of awards for contributions under this section.

(d) Award above $5,000. A department head may not grant a cash award above $5,000 without prior approval of the Commission. The maximum cash award is $25,000.

§ 451.304 Effect of an award on pay.

(a) Pay. A cash award under this part is in addition to the regular pay of the recipient.

(b) Further claim. The acceptance of a cash award under this part constitutes an agreement that the use by the Government of a contribution, idea, method or device for which an incentive award is made does not form the basis of a further claim of any nature against the Government by the employee, his heirs, or his assigns.

§ 451.305 Honorary award.

A department may grant an honorary award for a contribution. An honorary award may be granted in addition to a cash award.

§ 451.306 Group awards.

(a) The award. When a contribution is made by more than one employee, each contributing employee, including a supervisor, may share in the award.

(b) Cash award shares. A department may grant the employees a cash award in equal shares, or in shares proportionate to each employee's participation in the contribution.

(c) Amount of cash award. The total amount of a cash ward to a group may not exceed the amount that would be authorized if the contribution had been made by one individual, except that a department head for special reasons may decide a different amount is justified. He must document his reasons in support of the different amount.

§ 451.307 Presidential award.

Each department shall submit any recommendation for a Presidential award in accordance with instructions

issued by the Distinguished Civilian Service Awards Board.

§ 451.308 Interdepartmental award.

The head of a department in which a contribution originates may grant an incentive award for a contribution that also may benefit another department. The initial award is based on the benefit to the originating department before consideration of additional benefits to another department.

§ 451.309 Interdepartmental referral.

(a) Originating department. The head of each department in which a contribution originates shall establish a procedure that requires that the contribution be referred to other departments which may benefit from it. The referral to other departments shall be made only after consideration of the applicability of the contribution in the originating department.

(b) Referral to one department. When the department in which a contribution originates determines that only one other department is responsible for acting on the contribution, it shall refer the contribution to that department. The department to which the contribution is referred shall notify the originating department of the action on the contribution and shall send a copy of the notification to the Commission.

(c) Referral to Commission. When the originating department determines that more than one other department is responsible for acting on the contribution, it shall refer the file to the Commission, with information on the activities in other departments that may benefit from the contribution.

§ 451.310 Award by other benefiting department.

(a) Contribution approved. When the head of a department approves a contribution which originated in another department, he shall report the approval to either the originating department or the Commission, whichever referred the contribution.

(b) The report. The approving department shall report its approval as soon as possible and not later than 6 months after receipt of the referral except that the report may be made at a later date with prior approval of the Civil Service Commission. The report shall state the estimated first year net tangible benefits, if any; the intangible