Guidance on Collective Bargaining in Connection with RIFs

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued this memo as a follow up to the February 26, 2025 memorandum that provided guidance on Agency Reduction-in-Force (RIF) and Reorganization Plans (ARRPs). This memo addressed agencies' collective bargaining obligations in connection with ARRPs and RIFs, asserting that the scope of agencies' duty to negotiate with unions over these matters may be narrow. In connection with collective bargaining activities, unions often have the right to receive certain information from agencies. OPM's memo guided agencies to reject union requests based on certain stated needs for the information, including that the union wanted to "monitor contract compliance" or represent employees in further legal actions, because OPM believed these justifications did not meet the required showing of need. The memo asserted that any "CBS provisions that are inconsistent with OPM regulations or that excessively interfere with management’s rights to 'determine the organization' and the 'number of employees' of the agency, as well as 'layoff, and retain employees in the agency' are unenforceable."