Performance Appraisal for General Schedule, Prevailing Rate, and Certain Other Employees
Built by the Tribune's code from the Federal Register. No AI wrote this page. Published in the Federal Register July 7, 2026. Document 2026-13715. Updated Nov. 8, 2026.
- What it does
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.
The Personnel Management Office's summary, as published in the Federal Register.
- What changed in the regulation
3 parts of Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations:
5 CFR 351, 5 CFR 430, 5 CFR 537
Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).
- Compared with
The Personnel Management Office has published 29 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 14 in all of 2025.
Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.
- Before this
2 earlier Federal Register documents under regulation identifier 3206-AP06 since Jan. 1, 2025.
- What happens next and when
Effective date: August 6, 2026.
The agency's dates, word for word.
The record as published
| Document number | 2026-13715 |
|---|---|
| Action | Final rule. |
| Agencies | Personnel Management Office |
| Published | July 7, 2026 |
| Effective date | Aug. 6, 2026 |
| Regulation identifier (RIN) | 3206-AP06 |
| Docket | OPM-2025-0273 |
Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register