Streamlining Probationary and Trial Period Appeals; Correction and Technical Amendment
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published a final rule in the Federal Register on August 3, 2026, streamlining probationary and trial period appeals. That document cont...
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published a final rule in the
Federal Register
on August 3, 2026, streamlining probationary and trial period appeals. That document contained typographical and clerical errors in the regulatory text. This document corrects the final rule. This document also makes a technical amendment to OPM regulations to conform its appeal-rights reference to the final rule.
DATES:
Effective September 2, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Aaron Gottesman, Senior Advisor to the Director, by email at
employeeaccountability@opm.gov
or by phone at (202) 606-7400.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OPM published a final rule on August 3, 2026 (91 FR 49104; FR Doc. 2026-15654), establishing 5 CFR part 751 and making related amendments. The document contained clerical errors, including references to “this subpart” in a part that contains no subparts, a doubled conjunction in § 751.102(c)(2), a misplaced paragraph structure in § 751.103(b), the use in § 751.104(c) of the term “responsible agency,” which is undefined in part 751 (the term is defined only in § 731.503(b)(2), for purposes of part 731, subpart E), and minor typographical errors. This document corrects those errors. The corrections are non-substantive and make no change to the rights or obligations established by the final rule.
This document also amends § 315.909(b). The final rule revised § 315.908(b) to provide that an employee who alleges that an action under subpart I of part 315 was based on partisan political reasons or marital status may appeal to OPM under new 5 CFR part 751, and § 751.101(e) establishes that the procedures in part 751 are the sole means of appealing a covered action while preserving matters within the independent jurisdiction of other bodies.
The last sentence of § 315.909(b), however, continues to state that an employee who believes an action under subpart I was based on improper discrimination or other prohibited practices under 5 U.S.C. 2302 may appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That sentence is inconsistent with revised §§ 315.908(b) and 751.101(e), and this document conforms it, effective concurrently with the final rule. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), OPM finds that good cause exists to make this technical, conforming amendment without prior notice and comment because notice and comment are unnecessary for a non-substantive change that conforms the paragraph to a rule previously promulgated; for the same reasons, and pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), good cause exists for the amendment to take effect with the underlying rule on September 2, 2026.
Regulatory Review
OPM has examined this rule under Executive Orders 12866 and 13563. For the reasons discussed above, this rule is not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866. This is not an E.O. 14192 regulatory action because this rule is not significant under E.O. 12866.
The Director of OPM, Scott Kupor, reviewed and approved this document and has authorized the undersigned to electronically sign and submit this document to the Office of the Federal Register for publication.
Office of Personnel Management.
Jerson Matias,
Federal Register Liaison.
Correction
In FR Doc. 2026-15654, appearing on page 49072 in the
Federal Register
of Monday, August 3, 2026, the following corrections are made:
PART 315 [CORRECTED]
1. On page 49111, in the second column, in amendatory instruction 6, in the authority citation for part 315, remove “Comp., p.111.” and add in its place “Comp., p. 111.”.
3. On page 49112, in the third column, in § 751.102(c)(2), remove “unless registered as an e-filer unless exempted” and add in its place “unless registered as an e-filer or exempted”.
4. On page 49113, in the second column, in § 751.103, paragraph (b) is corrected to read as follows:
(b)
Agency response.
(1) The agency response to an appeal must be filed within 30 calendar days after service of the initial appeal and contain:
(i) The name of the appellant and of the agency whose action the appellant is appealing;
(ii) A statement identifying the agency action taken against the appellant and stating the reasons for taking the action;
(iii) All documents contained in the agency record of the action;
(iv) Designation of and signature by the authorized agency representative; and
(v) Any other documents or responses requested by OPM.
( printed page 54794)
(2) The agency's 30 days to respond begins upon service of the appeal.
(3) The agency record of the action shall include, at a minimum:
(i) All documents considered or relied upon by the agency in taking the action;
(ii) The notice of action and effective date;
(iii) Documents showing the appellant's appointment, service history, and probationary or trial period status;
(iv) Any written certification, noncertification, or failure-to-certify record under 5 CFR part 11;
(v) Any documents supporting the agency's basis for the action under appeal; and
(vi) A certification that the agency has produced the complete record considered by the deciding official or otherwise relied upon by the agency.
(4) The agency must produce the complete agency record to OPM. The agency must serve the appellant with the agency record, except that the agency may redact or withhold information from the copy served on the appellant to the extent necessary to comply with the Privacy Act, applicable legal privileges, classified information or national security requirements, protective orders issued by OPM, and any other applicable limitation on disclosure required by law.
5. On page 49113, in the third column, in § 751.104(c), remove “OPM or the responsible agency may” and add in its place “OPM or the agency whose action is under appeal may”, and remove “an employee of the responsible agency or OPM” and add in its place “an employee of that agency or OPM”.
6. Starting on page 49113, in the third column, in § 751.105(a) and (b), remove “an appeal under this subpart” and add in its place “an appeal under this part”.
(b) An action which demotes an employee to a lower grade than the one the employee left to accept the supervisory or managerial position, and an action against an employee for reasons other than supervisory or managerial performance, is governed by procedures under part 432 or 752 of this chapter, whichever is applicable. This section does not preclude an employee from filing a complaint, appeal, or other matter within the independent jurisdiction of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Merit Systems Protection Board, or the Office of Special Counsel, consistent with § 751.101(e) of this chapter.
Use this for formal legal and research references to the published document.
91 FR 54793
Web Citation
Suggested Web Citation
Use this when citing the archival web version of the document.
“Streamlining Probationary and Trial Period Appeals; Correction and Technical Amendment,” thefederalregister.org (August 25, 2026), https://thefederalregister.org/documents/2026-17336/streamlining-probationary-and-trial-period-appeals-correction-and-technical-amendment.
5 CFR part 751
5 U.S.C. 2302