(Attachment to UIPL 29-93)
 
INTERGOVERNMENTAL PERSONNEL ACT (IPA) 
Mobility Program
FACT SHEET
 
Purpose:  To provide for the temporary assignment of personnel between 
the Federal Government and State, local and Indian tribal governments, institutions 
of higher education, and certain other organizations for work of mutual concern 
and benefit.
 
Legal References: 
       -  Intergovernmental Personnel Act of 1970, as amended (P.L. 91-648) 
       -  Chapter 33 of Title 5, United States Code, Subchapter VI 
       -  Title 5, code of Federal Regulations, Part 334 
       -  Federal Personnel Manual, Chapter 334
  
Arranging an Assignment: 
 
Assignments under the IPA are management initiated and must be implemented  
by a written agreement. The Office of Personnel Management has developed an assignment  
agreement form (Optional Form 69). The agreement documents the conditions of the  
assignment such as job duties, fiscal obligations, and employee benefits, rights  
and obligations. The agreement must be signed by the assignee, a Federal agency official,  
and an official of the non-Federal organization involved.
 
Length of the Assignment:  

An assignment agreement may be made for up to two years and may be extended by 
the head of the Federal agency for up to two more years, given the concurrence of 
the other parties to the agreement.  Assignments may be intermittent, part time, 
or full time but should be kept to the minimum time period necessary to complete 
the assigned tasks.
 
Methods of Assignment and Pay: 
 
Federal Employee.  Under the IPA, a Federal employee may be assigned to  
a non-Federal organization on either detail or leave without pay. 
In either case, the assignee remains an employee of the Federal agency and retains the  
benefits attached to that status. At the completion of the assignment, the agency  
must return the employee to the same position he or she occupied at the time the  
mobility assignment began or reassign the individual to another position of like pay  
and grade.
     A Federal employee who is placed in a leave-without-pay status while  
on a mobility assignment and appointed to a State of local government position  
would receive the appropriate rate of pay for the position he or she occupies with  
the mobility employer. Thus, the assignee could receive a higher rate of pay than  
his or her Federal salary. A supplemental salary payment must be made to the assignee  
when the rate of pay of the non-Federal organization is less than the rate of pay  
the assignee would have received in his or her Federal position.
 
     A Federal employee on detail to a mobility assignment is entitled to his 
or her Federal rate or pay. However, such an assignee may receive a supplemental  
salary from a State of local government when the position to which he or she is  
being assigned has a higher established rate of pay.
 
     A Federal employee assigned under the mobility provisions must agree as a 
condition of accepting an assignment to serve with the Federal Government upon 
completion of the assignment for a period equal to the length of the assignment.
 
     Non-Federal Employee.  An employee of a non-Federal organization may be 
given an appointment or may be detailed to a Federal agency. Such as 
assignee, either on detail or given an appointment, may exercise supervision over 
Federal employees. Detailees continue to be paid at their regular salary rate. 
However, the assignee is entitled to supplemental pay from the Federal agency to 
the extent that the pay received from the non-Federal organization is less than 
the appropriate rate of pay which the duties would warrant under the applicable 
Federal pay provisions. By statute, a non-Federal mobility assignee may be given an 
appointment for up to two years without regard to the provisions governing 
appointment within the competitive service. Normally, such an appointment is made at 
the minimum rate for the grade at which the employee is appointed.
 
     Cost of Assignments:  The cost sharing financial arrangements involved 
in a mobility assignment are worked out between the participating organizations. 
The Federal agency may agree to pay all, some, or none of the costs of an assignement. 
Such costs may include employee pay, supplemental pay, and certain fringe benefits, 
travel and relocation costs. Federal agencies may not reimburse non-Federal 
organizations for tuition credits or for any indirect or administrative overhead 
costs associated with an assignment.
 
Travel and Transportation Expenses:
 
Under the IPA the following expenses may be paid:

	-  Travel, including a per diem allowance, to and from the assignment 
           location for the employee. 
	-  Travel, including a per diem allowance, for official business away 
           from the duty station during the assignment. 
	-  A change of station allowance for travel and transportation of the 
           employee's immediate family, household goods, and personal effects to 
           and from the assignment location; 
           subsistence expenses for the employee and his or her immediate 
           family while occupying temporary quarters at the assignment location and 
           on return to the former post of duty. 
	-  Per diem allowance at the assignment location. 
           A mobility assignee may receive either the per diem allowance at the 
           assignment location or the change of station allowances, but not both.
 
Pre-assignment househunting trips and payment of certain real estate costs allowed
in connection with permanent moves are not allowed due to the temporary nature of 
mobility assignments.
 
For further information:
 
            Personnel Mobility Program/CEEDG 
            Staffing Operations Division 
            U.S. Office of Personnel Managment 
            1900 E Street, N.W. 
            Washington, DC 20415
 
            Phone: (202) 632-0728