Data / Federal rules / 2026-18061
Determining the Appropriate Penalty for Federal Employees Charged With Misconduct
The Merit Systems Protection Board published this final rule in the Federal Register on September 3, 2026. It took effect on October 5, 2026.
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What the agency says
The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB or Board) is issuing a final rule amending its regulations governing the Board's review of the reasonableness of an agency's chosen penalty in misconduct-based adverse actions appealed to the Board. Under the final rule, the Board will no longer require consideration of the 12 factors set forth in Douglas v. Veterans Administration, 5 M.S.P.R. 280 (1981), in every case. Instead, the Board will evaluate whether the agency's penalty is within the tolerable limits of reasonableness in light of the totality of the circumstances, determined on a case-by-case basis.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2026-18061
- Type
- Final rule
- Action
- Final rule
- Agency
- Merit Systems Protection Board
- Published
- September 3, 2026
- Takes effect
- October 5, 2026
- Dates
- Effective date: This rule is effective October 5, 2026.
- Docket
- Docket ID: OPM-2025-0012
- Regulation ID (RIN)
- 3124-AA35
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 5 CFR 1201
- Topics
- Administrative practice and procedure; Government employees
- Pages
- 26
Other documents from the Merit Systems Protection Board
| Document | Type | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Appellate Jurisdiction Update II 2026-16456 | Final rule | Aug 12 |
| Promoting Employee Accountability 2026-13445 · significant | Proposed rule | Jul 2 |
| Appellate Jurisdiction Update 2026-03594 | Final rule | Feb 23 |
| Practices and Procedures 2025-23250 | Final rule | Dec 18, 2025 |
| Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment 2025-13707 | Final rule | Jul 22, 2025 |
| Organization and Procedures 2024-19933 | Final rule | Sep 9, 2024 |
| Appellate Jurisdiction Update 2024-07191 | Final rule | Apr 9, 2024 |
| Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment 2024-03015 | Final rule | Feb 14, 2024 |
Everything from the Merit Systems Protection Board · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Rules on government employees · Published in September 2026
Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.