A federal bonus bonanza?

The Federal Workforce Flexibility Act offers incentives to help federal agencies compete with the private sector for top talent. They include:

If certain conditions are met, agency officials could give a retention bonus of up to 50 percent of basic pay to an employee, based on the agency's critical need.

Retention bonuses may be paid at the end of specified installment periods — biweekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.

A recruitment or relocation bonus could be up to 50 percent of the employee's annual basic pay rate at the beginning of the service period.

Private-sector employees who enter government midcareer may receive more vacation time than what is typically offered to new hires.

Federal employees could receive compensatory time off for travel during nonbusiness hours.