Newly finalized Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regulations could dramatically alter how federal employees challenge personnel actions, appeal agency decisions, and protect their careers.

The rules, published in the Federal Register Aug. 3, 2026, have prompted concerns among some employee advocates and labor organizations regarding due process, independent review, and civil service protections. The final rules, effective Sept. 2, 2026, will likely significantly affect employees facing workforce restructuring, reductions in force, and certain suitability and appeal proceedings.

For decades, federal employees challenging removals, suitability determinations, and other significant personnel actions have often relied on review by quasi-judicial bodies such as the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). Under OPM’s newly finalized regulations, however, appeals involving certain reduction-in-force (RIF) actions and suitability decisions will be handled through processes administered by OPM itself.

The changes also place greater emphasis on agency-level procedures and the administrative record developed before an appeal is filed. Supporters argue the new framework will create a more streamlined and consistent review process, while critics contend it reduces independent oversight and may make it more difficult for employees to challenge agency decisions.

The new rules are titled:

• “Streamlining Probationary and Trial Period Appeals;”
• “Suitability Action Appeals;”
• “Reduction in Force;” and
• “Reduction in Force Appeals.”

Who Is Most Affected by the New Rules?

The new regulations are likely to have the greatest impact on employees facing workforce restructuring, employees serving probationary or trial periods, individuals subject to suitability actions, and employees who may need to challenge a future RIF-related separation, furlough, or demotion. Supervisors should also be aware that performance evaluations may now play an even more significant role in workforce reduction decisions than under prior regulations.

Key Changes for Federal Employees

• Probationary and Trial Period Appeals. OPM’s rule establishes a limited OPM-administered appeals process for certain employees terminated during probationary or trial periods, as well as supervisors and managers who fail to complete required probationary periods. The rule replaces prior MSPB appeal procedures that were rescinded and creates a new framework for challenging covered actions. Employees serving probationary or trial periods should understand that their appeal rights may differ significantly from those available to career employees and may be subject to new procedural requirements.

• Performance becomes the primary retention factor. Previously, RIF retention standing heavily emphasized tenure, veterans’ preference, and length of service. Under the new rule, employees will be ranked primarily on performance credit, with veterans’ preference layered on top. Tenure subgroup and service length become tie-breakers rather than primary factors.

• New performance scoring system. OPM will base retention rankings on the employee’s three most recent performance ratings within a four-year lookback period. The rule assigns:
• • Level 5 rating = 7 points;
  • Level 4 rating = 5 points;
  • Level 3 rating = 3 points; and
  • Level 1 or 2 rating = 0 points.

Those points are used to determine retention standing during a RIF.

• Certain employees excluded from RIF competition. The rule excludes several categories of employees from the traditional RIF competition process, including:
• • employees serving initial probationary periods;
  • employees in trial periods;
  • temporary or time-limited employees with appointments of one year or less;
  • Schedule C employees; and
  • Schedule G employees.

Agencies may separate, reassign, furlough, or demote these employees without applying RIF competition procedures.

• New retention register structure. OPM is replacing the current tenure-group framework with simplified categories for competitive service employees and excepted service employees. Therefore, employees will be ranked within those categories using the new performance-based methodology.

• Changes to RPL, CTAP, ICTAP, and transfer-of-function rules. The final rules also revise regulations governing:
• • Reemployment Priority Lists (RPL);
  • Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP);
  • Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP); and
  • Transfers of function during reorganizations.
  • OPM has stated these changes are intended to align workforce restructuring procedures with the new RIF framework.

• RIF Appeals. Under this rule, OPM will replace the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) as the administrative forum for future appeals involving RIF furloughs, separations, and demotions. OPM will administer a new record-based appeals process. The change is also effective Sept. 2, 2026. Under the new framework, employees generally will be required to rely on the administrative record developed during the agency’s RIF process, making early documentation and preservation of evidence increasingly important when preparing a potential appeal.

Why Federal Employees Are Paying Attention to the New Rules

Taken together, these final rules represent some of the most significant restructurings of federal employee rights and due process protections in recent memory. By shifting key appeals away from independent review bodies and into OPM, the federal government is fundamentally changing how employees challenge personnel actions. Federal workers must be prepared to build their cases much earlier because the administrative record may now carry greater weight than ever before.

The most significant policy change is that employees with stronger recent performance ratings could rank ahead of employees with substantially longer federal service when agencies conduct layoffs or workforce reductions. Critics have raised concerns that performance ratings can vary by agency and supervisor, while supporters argue the new approach better rewards high performance. OPM’s rule explicitly states that it is prioritizing performance over tenure and length of service in retention decisions

What Federal Employees Can Do Now

For many federal employees, the practical impact of these changes may be felt long before an appeal is filed. Employees confronting a RIF, suitability determination, probationary termination, or other adverse personnel action may need to focus earlier on preserving documents, identifying witnesses, and building an administrative record that could ultimately determine the outcome of an appeal. Because several of the new rules emphasize record-based review and limit traditional appeal pathways, strategic decisions that previously could be made later in the process may now need to be addressed immediately.

Employees should also review their recent performance ratings, maintain copies of personnel records and performance evaluations, and carefully preserve communications related to any pending workforce restructuring or personnel action, as these materials may become critical evidence in a future appeal.

If you have questions about your rights as a federal employee, Tully Rinckey’s team of dedicated federal employment attorneys is available to assist. Please call 8885294543 to schedule a consultation, or schedule a consultation online.

 Michael C. Fallings focuses his practice on federal sector labor and employment law. Michael has extensive experience litigating cases on behalf of employees at the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and in both state and federal courts. He also has experience negotiating settlement agreements on behalf of federal employees. Michael has received numerous awards, including the 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America, LawDragon 500 the Next Generation (2024-25), Lawdragon 500 Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyers (2025), National Black Lawyers Top 40 under 40, and Super Lawyers Rising Star (2023).