Federal Employee Relocation Benefits

The government supports its workers when they make official moves.

Federal employee relocation benefits cover various types of moving assistance. The assistance pays for deliverables related to official moves that government employees must meet, items like placing a home on the market, traveling to the new work location and shipping household belongings to a new address. Understanding the relocation benefits will help government employees whose supervisors require them to move to a different work location to apply for and receive all levels of help they qualify for.

Relocation Incentive

If their managers approve their receiving additional financial assistance, relocating federal employees could receive a relocation incentive equal up to 25 percent of their annual salary. The incentive is multiplied by the number of years the employee has worked in the federal government. The maximum number of years of service the percentage is multiplied by is four. On top of this and with Office of Personnel Management approval, employees could receive up to 50 percent of their annual salary in relocation incentive money. Total amount of the relocation incentive cannot exceed 100 of the employee's base annual pay.

Pre-move Counseling

After federal employees receive approval from their supervisors to relocate to another location, they are assigned a professional contact from a moving agency. This person will meet with them to discuss renting or buying another property. During the pre-move counseling, employees and their spouses also receive advice about enrolling their children in new schools and traveling to the new work location. Relocation professionals assigned to work with federal employees also help the employees work with real estate agents and place their homes on the market.

Transportation to New Facility

The government will pay the costs to transport the employee, their spouse and children to the new work location. Federal employees and their dependents also receive a per diem to cover the costs of meals and hotel expenses while they are traveling to the new work location. The costs to ship the family's vehicles are covered as well.

Leased Vehicles

Through the General Services Administration, GSA, federal employees who are relocating can have automobiles that they rent because of the relocation paid for by the government. As of January 2011, the maximum daily rental car rate was $26.11; the maximum monthly amount federal employees are reimbursed for renting vehicles is $261.70.

Shipment and Storage of Household Goods

The government pays to have relocating federal employee's household goods placed in storage. The costs to ship the goods is also paid for by the government.

References

• National Association of Letter Carriers: Publication 164
• U.S. Office of Personnel Management: Relocation Incentives
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Overview of the Uniform Act (URA); June 2010
• U.S. General Services Administration; Employee Relocation, Schedule 48; December 2010
• U.S. General Services Administration: Handbook for Relocating Federal Employees
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: Transportation & Support Services