Data / Federal rules / 2026-13715
Performance Appraisal for General Schedule, Prevailing Rate, and Certain Other Employees
The Personnel Management Office published this final rule in the Federal Register on July 7, 2026. It took effect on August 6, 2026.
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What the agency says
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of performance management for non-Senior Executive Service (SES) employees, including General Schedule (GS) and prevailing rate employees. This final rule eliminates unnecessary summary level patterns; removes the prohibition of a forced, or standardized, distribution of performance rating levels; eliminates mandatory review of Level 1 ratings; removes the option to grieve a rating of record; requires a supervisory critical element for all supervisors covered under this subpart; and requires OPM to conduct biennial certifications of agency appraisal systems.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2026-13715
- Type
- Final rule
- Action
- Final rule
- Agency
- Personnel Management Office
- Published
- July 7, 2026
- Takes effect
- August 6, 2026
- Dates
- Effective date: August 6, 2026.
- Docket
- Docket ID: OPM-2025-0273
- Regulation ID (RIN)
- 3206-AP06
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 5 CFR 351; 5 CFR 430; 5 CFR 537
- Topics
- Administrative practice and procedure; Government employees; Students; Wages
- Pages
- 19
Other documents from the Personnel Management Office
| Document | Type | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative Leave for Workforce Realignment and Other Purposes 2026-21320 | Final rule | Oct 19 |
| Elimination of Time-in-Grade 2026-21319 | Final rule | Oct 19 |
| Managing Senior Professional Performance 2026-21316 · significant | Final rule | Oct 19 |
| Family and Medical Leave Act 2026-21104 | Final rule | Oct 15 |
| Employment in the Excepted Service 2026-19222 · significant | Proposed rule | Sep 18 |
| Federal Employees Health Benefits Program: Optimizing FEHB Plan Offerings 2026-18944 | Proposed rule | Sep 15 |
| Promoting Employee Accountability 2026-18943 | Proposed rule | Sep 15 |
| Shared Certificates and Pooled Hiring Actions 2026-18828 · significant | Final rule | Sep 15 |
Everything from the Personnel Management Office · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Rules on government employees · Rules on students · Published in July 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.