Critical Position Pay Authority

What it does

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is amending its regulations governing the critical position pay (CPP) 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. The final rule eliminates non-statutory caps and approval criteria; addresses the use of service agreements; clarifies that reductions or terminations of CPP are not adverse actions or subject to grievance or appeal rights; and clarifies the treatment of critical pay rates as basic pay. This final 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 changed in the regulation

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

5 CFR 535, 5 CFR 752

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

1 earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 3206-AP02 since Jan. 1, 2025.

• April 24, 2026 Proposed rule. Critical Position Pay Authority

What happens next and when

Effective date: This regulation is effective August 26, 2026. OPM is waiving the 30-day delayed effective date under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1), as this rule relieves restrictions that are not required by statute.

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