PURPOSE:  To recognize employees for their day-to-day efforts that contribute in a special way in getting the job done.  Under this non-monetary award program, supervisors may give immediate recognition to recognize and reward employee excellence.

ELIGIBILITY:  Any NIST employee except a Senior Executive Service or ST-3104.  Group awards are also permitted.

GENERAL POLICY/GUIDANCE:  An On-the-Spot (OTS) award is granted by supervisors to recognize accomplishments that represent steps toward achievement of organizational goals or purposes, but for which higher-level recognition such as honor awards, performance awards, or superior accomplishment awards are not appropriate.  An OTS should not be used in place of paying overtime or compensatory time, and is not meant to replace other traditional methods of recognition, but rather to increase supervisors' options in rewarding and reinforcing employee excellence.  Rather than recognizing overall performance, the OTS acknowledges one or more specific instances of exemplary performance.  Receipt of an OTS in this program does not preclude the same employee from receiving honorary recognition, a cash award, or pay increase, or bonus based on performance when criteria for such recognition are otherwise met.

TYPES OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

The following are examples of efforts that would qualify an employee for an OTS:

a.  completion of a short-term project or significant milestones in less time than expected or where there were unusual difficulties to overcome;

b.  development of new or revised procedures or other contributions toward improvement of office productivity;

c.  handling an unusually heavy workload, such as when coworkers are absent or when vacant positions are not filled immediately;

d.  completion of a significant special assignment that is outside of normal job responsibilities;

e.  planning a special event that is particularly successful because of the employee's personal efforts;

f.  contributions that enable NIST to make more effective use of its resources;

g.  contributions that improve the public awareness and/or understanding of NIST programs;

h.  helping a co-worker who has an unusually heavy workload or a crash project; or

i.  voluntary participation in support of efforts related to the mission of NIST.

NOMINATION AND APPROVAL PROCEDURES:  The supervisor prepares form CD-326, Recommendation for Recognition, including a written recommendation describing the basis for the award, and the net amount of the award.  Form CD-326 must be signed by the Division Chief as the approving authority.  If the nomination is a Division Chief, the OU Director must be the approving official.

CONTRIBUTION LEVELS:

Awards are divided into three contribution levels:

Level A ($25.00) Recognizes effort beyond normal performance expectations of the job in a given instance.  Typically, the employee might exercise initiative by developing a new approach to a task, or might put forth extra effort permitting early completion of a routine project.

Level B ($50.00) Recognizes a particularly efficient or resourceful effort expended by the employee.  Typically, the employee takes the initiative to develop and follow through on a difficult task not specifically required but which results in an immediate benefit to the work unit, or the employee completes an important and particularly difficult assignment in an exemplary manner.  Level B is appropriate to recognize an employee who takes extra steps to resolve a troublesome situation or in some special way benefits the work unit.

Level C ($75.00) Recognizes exceptional contributions of employees.  As an example, the employee may apply original concepts to an unstructured, non-routine assignment, or an employee may perform outstandingly in a crisis situation.  Level C is appropriate to recognize an employee’s effort that clearly can be called “going significantly above and beyond the call of duty.”

INDIVIDUAL/ANNUAL DOLLAR LIMITATION:  The dollar value of an individual OTS award may not exceed $75.00.  An employee may not receive awards that exceed a total of $125.00 in a single calendar year, including any items received as part of a group.  The annual limitation applies to the face value of a gift certificate.  Individual supervisors are responsible for assuring compliance with the $125.00 limitation.

MERCHANDISE ITEMS:  Under this program, a merchandise item is defined as a gift certificate.

SuperCertificate - gift certificate to http://www.giftcertificates.com/ is redeemable online or by phone for original gift certificates to hundreds of popular stores, airlines, hotels, theaters, and restaurants.  Paper SuperCertificates are issued in $25 denominations.

TAXES:  All awards granted under this program are subject to Federal, State and local, and FICA (including Medicare) taxes.  Awards are granted in net amounts.  The NFC system then calculates and reports the gross amount of the award to include the required tax withholdings on the employee’s next Earnings and Leave Statement.  All awards will be included in gross annual wages on the employee’s Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement.

HOW TO GIVE AN ON-THE-SPOT AWARD IN FIVE STEPS:

Step 1 - The supervisor should decide that a contribution is worthy of recognition and determine the award level (A, B or C).

Step 2 - The supervisor prepares and signs Form CD-326, Recommendation for Recognition.  The Division Chief and/or OU Director signs as the approving authority.  In Block 8, indicate “Level A, B or C”.  At the end of the justification in Block 8, the following phrase should be inserted, “To date, the employee has received a total of [INSERT AMOUNT] in On-the-Spot Awards.”  The current award amount being recommended is not included in that total.

Note: An employee, either as an individual or as part of a group, may not receive awards under this program which exceed a total of $125 in a single calendar year.

Step 3 - The original approved CD-326 hand carried to the Finance Division.

Step 4 - The Finance Division (FD) will record the OTS in a gift certificate tracking log and provide the gift certificate (s) to the requestor.  The FD will forward the completed CD-326 to the Human Resources Management Division (HRMD).

Step 5 - HRMD will verify that the recipient as not received awards under this program in excess of the $125 limit and then will enter the award into the National Finance Center personnel/payroll system.

H0W TO REDEEM A GIFT CERTIFICATE:  Upon receipt of the award, the recipient can redeem his/her paper SuperCertificate online at http://www.giftcertificates.com/, or by phone for original merchant gift certificate(s) of their choice. GiftCertificates.com will send the gift certificate(s) to the award recipient at no charge.

PURCHASE/SECURITY/RECONCILIATION OF THE GIFT CERTIFICATES:  The Finance Division will be responsible for purchasing, maintaining and safeguarding the inventory, recording the distribution, and the physical distribution of the gift certificates.

FREQUENCY:  There is no limitation on the number of OTS awards that an employee is eligible to receive as long as the dollar limitation is not exceeded.