Office of Personnel Management March 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to redefine the geographic boundaries of the following appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas for pay-setting purposes: Hagerstown-Martinsburg-Chambersburg, MD; Richmond, VA; Roanoke, VA; and Washington, DC. The final rule will redefine the Shenandoah National Park portions of Albemarle, Augusta, Greene, Page, and Rockingham Counties, VA, to the Washington, DC, wage area. This change is based on a recent consensus recommendation of the Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee (FPRAC).

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a revised information collection request (ICR) 3206-0278, USA Staffing, Onboarding).

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is revising the interim regulation regarding the restoration of annual leave for employees who are essential to respond to certain national emergencies, such as the National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). This rule extends the latest possible termination date for the exigency established in connection with the COVID-19 national emergency, which would be March 13, 2023, under the current interim regulations. Under this new rule, that date would be the date the national emergency is ended by the President. This rule also provides for special handling of restored annual leave resulting from an agency- specific ongoing exigency that is directly related to a matter that was determined to be a national emergency exigency and that immediately follows that national emergency exigency. Finally, this rule expands an agency's authority to exempt employees from the advance annual leave scheduling requirement in the leave year during which a national emergency exigency is terminated.