Language incentive pay for civil service employees

The Secretary may provide special monetary incentives to acquire or retain proficiency in foreign languages to civil service employees who serve in domestic positions requiring critical language skills that are located in the fifty United States, the District of Columbia, and non-foreign areas (United States territories and possessions, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). The amounts of such incentives should be similar to the language incentive pay provided to members of the Foreign Service pursuant to section 704(b)(3) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4024(b)(3)).