Tracking changes to the federal workplace

Small changes in personnel policies can create seismic shifts in how our government operates — but these internal policies can be hard to find. This Archive provides a catalog of recent changes to policies and practices affecting the federal civil service, searchable by agency, employee category, and theme.

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144 Matching Records

Supplemental Guidance on the Merit Hiring Plan

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued this guidance memo on its Merit Hiring Plan. The memo itself has four attached guidance memos, each on a different aspect of implementing the new hiring approach: a memo on agency leadership involvement,...

Hiring Authority for College Graduates

In February 2026, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) finalized a regulation that the Biden administration had proposed in 2021 but had not issued as a final regulation. The regulation implements a law Congress enacted to allow the federal government...

Hiring Authority for Post-Secondary Students

In February 2026, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) finalized a regulation that the Biden administration had proposed in 2021 but had not issued as a final regulation. The regulation implements a law Congress enacted to allow the federal government...

Reduction in Force Appeals

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the appeal process for Reductions in Force (RIFs). Under OPM's existing regulations, employees could appeal being laid off as a result of a RIF to the...

Suitability Action Appeals

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding federal employees' ability to appeal determinations that they are not "suitable" to remain federal employees. Generally speaking, a "suitability" determination is a determination made by OPM...

Additional Implementing Guidance for Schedule P/C Final Rule

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a follow-up to its initial guidance to agencies on implementing its final Schedule Policy/Career (P/C) regulation. The follow-up guidance included six new appendices with document for use by agencies, which together make a...

Improving Performance, Accountability & Responsiveness in the Civil Service

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a final rule implementing EO 14,171 (Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce) which created a new category of federal employee: Schedule Policy/Career (P/C). In general, civil servants are classified into...

Initial Implementing Guidance for Schedule P/C Final Rule

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released initial guidance on implementing the final rule, "Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service." The rule contemplates that the President will publish an Executive Order that will move employees into a...

Withdrawal of Proposed Rule: FEHB Modification of Effective Date of Coverage for Employees With an Initial Opportunity To Enroll

In February 2026, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a notice in the Federal Register that it was withdrawing a prior 2024 notice proposing a regulation related to employee health benefits. The 2024 proposal would have allowed new federal...

Guidance on Reinvigorating Merit-Based Hiring Through Candidate Ranking (Rule of Many)

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued this guidance on its implementation of "the Rule of Many" hiring process, which replaced "the Rule of Three." This change was made through OPM's issuance of a final regulation in September 2025 titled...

2025 Guide to Telework & Remote Work in the Federal Government

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued this guide to telework and remote work, as part of implementing President Trump's January 2025 Presidential Memorandum titled "Return to In-Person Work." The guide sets full-time in-person work as the baseline expectation for...

Streamlining Probationary & Trial Period Appeals

On December 30, 2025, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a proposed regulation regarding the appeal rights of terminated probationary employees. The regulation would strip terminated probationary employees of the right to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board...

Hatch Act Advisory Opinion Regarding Jurisdiction Over Former Employees

On December 22, 2025, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) issued an advisory rescinding an advisory it had issued earlier in the year. OSC had announced in an April 25, 2025 policy issuance that it would not file any Hatch...

Guidance Regarding Final Regulations on Recruitment & Relocation Incentives

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued guidance on its new regulation regarding limits on incentive payments made to prospective or current employees for recruitment or retention purposes. Those payments are sometimes authorized when the agency determines the position is...

Recruitment & Relocation Incentive Waivers

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a final regulation that allows agencies to waive the limits on relocation and recruitment incentive payments. A relocation or recruitment incentive is an extra payment made by the government to a current or...

Creating “Federal HR 2.0” by Consolidating Core Human Capital Management Across the Federal Government

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Scott Kupor issued a memorandum announcing the consolidation of human resources services IT platforms "with the goal of government-wide adoption by FY 2028." The...

New Government-wide Supervisory Training

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released new supervisory training and announced that all federal supervisors below the level of the Senior Executive Service must complete the training by February 9, 2025. Thereafter, all new supervisors would be required to...

GSA, State, & SBA Move Forward with RIFs

According to news media reports, at least three agencies — the General Services Administration, the Department of State, and the Small Business Administration — moved forward with reductions in force (RIFs). They did so despite a provision in the continuing...

Guidance on Senior Executive Service Reassignments

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memorandum encouraging agencies to reassign members of the Senior Executive Service (SES) to new positions from time to time. The memorandum further stated that "agencies are encouraged to review their current executive...