ALCOAST 039/26 - FEB 2026 CIVILIAN AWARDS CHANGES 2026

R 041441Z FEB 26   MID320018517209U
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC
TO ALCOAST
BT
UNCLAS
ALCOAST 039/26
SSIC 12451
SUBJ: CIVILIAN AWARDS CHANGES 2026
A. Coast Guard Civilian Awards Manual, COMDTINST 12451.1C
B. Employee Recognition, DHS Directive Number 255-02, Revision 00.1
C. Employee Recognition, DHS Directive Number 255-02-001,
Revision 00.1
1. This ALCOAST serves as a reminder to supervisors of civilians of
the various awards that are available to retain, reward, and
recognize employees and modifies REF (A) to align with applicable
DHS directives, REFs (B) and (C). These updates are effective
immediately and will be formally incorporated into the next revision
of REF (A). Supervisors are required to familiarize themselves with
REF (A) and this message to fully utilize the Civilian Awards
Program to recognize outstanding contributions of civilian
employees. Effective use of employee recognition ensures
high-performing employees are provided with meaningful awards,
particularly in hard-to-fill or mission-critical roles; incentivizes
and retains top talent; and rewards employees who make the greatest
contributions to the Coast Guard's missions.
2. Special Act Awards. A Special Act Award is a cash award granted
to a civilian employee as a form of incentive or recognition for a
special act which contributed to the efficiency of economy, or other
improvement of Government operations, customer satisfaction, or
process improvements, and results in tangible or intangible benefits
or services to the government.
    a. Pending formal revision of REF (A), approval authorities in
Chapter 9(A)(7) and Figure 9-5 of REF (A) are amended as follows.
        (1) First level supervisors – less than or equal to $1,000.
        (2) Office Chief or Department Heads – less than or equal
to $2,500.
        (3) HQ Directors, Field Unit Commanding Officers, Service
Center Commanders – up to $5,000.
        (4) Deputy/Assistant Commandants, District Commanders,
Flag Level Field Commanding Officers – less than or equal to $7,500.
        (5) Commandant (CCG) – less than or equal to $10,000. This
authority may be redelegated to the Vice Commandant (VCG).
        (6) The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must approve
awards from $10,001 up to $25,000, with awards greater than $25,000
being approved by the President.
    b. The Civilian Awards Review Board will review and concur with
all awards above the amount of $7,500.
    c. The Coast Guard will actively seek opportunities to expand its
approval authorities.
3. On-the-Spot Awards (OTS). OTS awards are given for a one-time
achievement designed to quickly recognize employee efforts that
result in service of an exceptionally high quality or quantity.
Pending formal revision of REF (A), the OTS award provision
currently addressed in Chapter 9(B)(1) and Figure 9-5 is amended to
increase the maximum OTS award amount up to $1,000 per award with no
annual limit. OTS awards up to $1,000 may be approved by the
immediate supervisor.
4. Time-Off Awards (TOA). A TOA is time off from duty, without loss
of pay or charge to leave. Supervisors should ensure maximum
participation in awarding time-off awards for superior
accomplishments, while adhering to the REF (A) guidelines that
require awards to be commensurate with the employee's contributions.
Supervisors must use the "Time-Off Awards Scale for a Single
Contribution" as a suggested guideline to determine the appropriate
number of hours to grant and consider factors such as the office's
workload, the employee's leave projections, and their ability to
schedule time-off within a reasonable timeframe.
5. Nomination Procedures: All monetary awards are subject to
availability of funds. Supervisors must adhere to local procedures
and ensure funding certification through their designated Civilian
Resource Coordinator (CRC). Commandant (CG-832) implemented a new
non-rating based awards nomination tool on its Civilian Pay Portal
for Special Act Awards, OTS, and TOAs, which must be used for award
submissions.
(Copy and Paste URL Below into Browser)

https://uscg.sharepoint-mil.us/sites/CGCC/CG832/SitePages/Home.aspx

6. Performance Awards. A performance award is an award granted based
on the employee's rating of record (i.e., final rating).
    a. Chapters 10(D) and 12(A)(2) of REF (A) are amended to remove
the time-off award as an option for rewarding high-level performance
at the end of the rating cycle in lieu of a performance cash award.
This amendment eliminates the ability to offer time-off awards as a
performance-based award under the annual performance awards process.
Any incidental references to time-off awards as performance-based
awards within REF (A) should be considered inapplicable. Non-rating
based time-off awards remain available for consideration to reward
superior accomplishments consistent with paragraph 4 above.
    b. Chapter 12 of REF (A) is amended to add a section entitled
"Approval Authority" for performance-based cash award amounts. The
amendment provides that an award under this section may not exceed
10 percent of the employee's annual rate of basic pay unless the
Commandant (CCG), with approval of the Deputy Secretary of Homeland
Security, determines that exceptional performance by an employee
justifies a larger percentage not to exceed 20 percent of the
employee's annual rate of basic pay. Notwithstanding these
percentage caps, monetary awards greater than $10,000 must be
approved by the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security prior to
submission for final approval. The Office of Personnel Management
(OPM) must approve awards from $10,001 up to $25,000 with awards
greater than $25,000 being approved by the President.
7. Quality Step Increases. A Quality Step Increase (QSI) is a faster
than normal within-grade increase used to reward a permanent General
Schedule (GS) employee who demonstrates sustained high-quality
performance. A QSI, while normally granted in the annual Performance
Award process, may be granted at any time during the rating year
based upon the eligibility and criteria in REF (A). Supervisors must
secure funding and allocation approval through the Civilian Resource
Coordinator (CRC) and Commandant (CG-832) prior to recommending a
QSI. A QSI granted out of cycle counts towards a CG organization's
overall yearly allocation and is a recurring expense.
8. Additional guidance and procedures will be published by PSC-CPM.
9. Funding and Budget Management. Commandant (CG-WM) will coordinate
with Commandant (CG-8) to validate existing budgetary resources for
civilian personnel incentives, ensure appropriate use of funds, and
address any funding shortfalls. Commands may establish internal
controls and local procedures to ensure awards are distributed in
alignment with REF (A) and this message.
10. POC: COMDT (CG-WMC), Kathryn Jones, (571) 607-7264,
kathryn.a.jones@uscg.mil.
11. RDML Zeita Merchant, Assistant Commandant for Workforce
Management (CG-WM), sends.
12. Internet release is authorized.