Critical Position Pay Authority

What it does

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposes to amend its regulations governing the critical position pay authority to establish level I of the Executive Schedule as the default maximum critical pay rate, with higher rates subject to written approval by the Director of OPM; eliminate non-statutory caps and approval criteria; address the use of service agreements; clarify reductions or terminations of critical position pay are not adverse actions or subject to grievance or appeal rights; and clarify the treatment of critical pay rates as basic pay. This proposed rule simplifies and better aligns OPM's regulations with governing law and delegated authority.

The Personnel Management Office's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What it would change

2 parts of Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

5 CFR 535, 5 CFR 752

Before this

No earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 3206-AP02 since Jan. 1, 2025.

Since then:

• Aug. 26, 2026 Final rule. Critical Position Pay Authority

What happens next and when

Send comments on or before May 26, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket OPM-2026-0232 on Regulations.gov
• Title 5 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register