OPM Shifts Appeals Process, Changes RIF Criteria in New Rules
The Trump administration finalized four rules that will significantly reshape how federal employee appeals are handled and how agencies determine which employees remain during reductions-in-force (RIFs).
Three of the rules shift responsibility for certain employee appeals from the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), while a fourth rule changes the factors agencies must consider when carrying out RIFs.
All four rules take effect Sept. 2, 2026.
Appeals to OPM
Under the new rules, certain federal employee appeals that were previously handled by MSPB will now be heard by OPM, including challenges involving suitability actions, probationary-period adverse actions, and certain RIF decisions.
In one rule, OPM said it is taking over for the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) in hearing appeals of suitability actions.
OPM says the change will “streamline suitability action appeals procedures, thereby improving the efficiency, rigor, and timeliness by which OPM and agencies resolve challenges to suitability actions and ensure the integrity and efficiency of the service.”
The suitability appeals will be heard at OPM’s suitability office.
Appeals over RIFs or for employees who are terminated during their probationary periods will be heard by OPM’s Merit System Accountability and Compliance (MSAC) office.
Critics have questioned whether OPM has the capacity and independence to handle such appeals, given that the agency’s workforce is down about 30 percent since the start of the Trump administration.
“MSPB has an entire roster of administrative judges. It’s got a board that oversees it. It’s got a lot of support staff. It would require a lot of resources for OPM to offer the same quality and independent services,” said Jenny Mattingley, vice president of public policy and stakeholder engagement at the Partnership for Public Service.
RIFs to Focus on Performance Ratings
As for the RIFs, OPM’s rules make a major shift. Instead of using tenure and seniority when it comes to deciding who is retained in a layoff, an employee’s performance will now be the top factor, followed by veterans’ preference. Tenure and seniority will be used as tiebreakers.
In an accompanying blog post, OPM Director Scott Kupor wrote that the changes will give “real weight to recent performance ratings in retention decisions” noting that the system will only work if performance ratings are honest. He pointed to OPM’s moves to reform the performance rating system calling them “interlocking gears.”
In response to some of the concerns that OPM could stack ratings to push employees out the door, the final rule states, “OPM has taken concrete steps to ensure the accuracy and fairness of employee ratings systems … Further, OPM has built in safeguards to prevent performance ratings from being manipulated to target individual employees in the RIF context.”
