Office of Personnel Management – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed regulation to clarify that bargaining-unit employees, who are detailed or temporarily promoted to higher grade duties of a higher-graded position, should be paid accordingly for the entire time performing these duties of a higher-graded position, when this action is pursuant to a final order by an arbitrator, adjudicative body, or court, under a collective bargaining agreement that provides for this action and the employees were assigned these duties outside of competitive hiring procedures. In addition, the proposed change clarifies that non- bargaining unit employees who are temporarily promoted to higher grade duties of a higher-graded position should be paid accordingly for the entire time performing these duties of a higher-graded position, as found pursuant to a final order by an adjudicative body or court. At present, non-competitive temporary promotions, and non-competitive details to duties of higher-graded positions are limited to no more than 120 days under OPM regulations regardless of the bargaining-unit status of the employee. Competitive procedures apply for any temporary promotion or detail to duties of a higher-graded position that exceeds 120-days, again, regardless of the bargaining-unit status of the employee.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Retirement Services, offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on the following expiring information collection (ICR), without change: Initial Certification of Full-Time School Attendance, RI 25-41. OPM uses RI 25-41 to determine if a child is eligible to receive survivor benefits.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a final rule to redefine the geographic boundaries of the Northeastern Arizona and Utah appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas for pay-setting purposes. The final rule will redefine Washington County, UT, and several National Parks portions of Garfield, Grand, Iron, San Juan, and Wayne Counties, UT, to the Northeastern Arizona wage area.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule to expand the authority to approve waivers of the normal payment limitations on recruitment and relocation incentives. An expansion of the waiver approval authority would provide agencies with access to higher payment limitations for these flexibilities without requesting approval from OPM. Under this proposed rule, agencies would have the authority to approve a recruitment or relocation incentive of up to 50 percent of an employee's annual rate of basic pay multiplied by the number of years in a service agreement (not to exceed 100 percent of annual basic pay) based on a critical agency need. In addition, this proposed rule would give agencies flexibility to set the length of the required service period for recruitment incentives to a period less than 6 months but not more than 4 years, which would align the service requirements for recruitment incentives with those for relocation incentives and provide agencies with additional flexibility in taking advantage of this incentive as a recruitment tool.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Retirement Services, offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on an expiring information collection request (ICR), with change: 3206-0201, Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Open Season Express Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System and the Open Season website, Open Season Online.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Human Resources Solutions, offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on the extension with change of a currently approved information collection request (ICR): 3206-0246, CyberCorps[supreg]: Scholarship for Service (SFS) Registration system.

This document sets forth proposed rules related to certain provisions of the No Surprises Act regarding the Federal independent dispute resolution (IDR) process, which was established as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA). These proposed rules would set forth new requirements relating to the disclosure of information that group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance coverage must include along with the initial payment or notice of denial of payment for certain items and services subject to the surprise billing protections in the No Surprises Act. These proposed rules would also require plans and issuers to communicate information by using claim adjustment reason codes (CARCs) and remittance advice remark codes (RARCs), as specified in guidance, when providing any paper or electronic remittance advice to an entity that does not have a contractual relationship with the plan or issuer. This document also proposes to amend certain requirements related to the open negotiation period preceding the Federal IDR process, the initiation of the Federal IDR process, the Federal IDR dispute eligibility review, and the payment and collection of administrative fees and certified IDR entity fees. This document also proposes to define bundled payment arrangements, amend requirements related to batched items and services, and amend the rules for extensions of timeframes due to extenuating circumstances. Additionally, this document proposes to require plans and issuers to register in the Federal IDR portal. In accordance with Federal law, a summary of these rules may be found at https://www.regulations.gov/.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a previously approved information collection request (ICR) 3206-0276, (Generic Clearance for Improving Customer Experience).

Notice is hereby given of the appointment of members of the OPM Performance Review Board.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is adopting its proposed rule to revise the table of reduction factors for early commencing dates of survivor annuities for spouses of separated employees who die before the date on which they would be eligible for unreduced deferred annuities. The annuity factor for spouses of deceased employees who die in service when those spouses elect to receive the basic employee death benefit in 36 installments under the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) Act of 1986 remains unchanged. These revisions are necessary to ensure that the tables conform to the economic and demographic assumptions adopted by the Board of Actuaries and published in the Federal Register on April 14, 2023, as required by law.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule to update the 2017 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes currently used in Federal Wage System (FWS) wage survey industry regulations with the 2022 NAICS revisions published by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The Federal Salary Council (Council) will hold a hybrid (virtual/in-person) meeting on Tuesday, November 14, 2023, at the time shown below. The Council will consider relevant data in the meeting and formulate its recommendations to the President's Pay Agent on pay comparison methods, locality pay rates, and locality pay areas and boundaries for 2025.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Retirement Services, offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on the review of the following expiring information collection request (ICR) with change: Civil Service Retirement System Survivor Annuitant Express Pay Application for Death Benefits, RI 25-51.

In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposes to establish a new government-wide system of records titled ``OPM/GOVT-11 Federal Fair Chance Act Complaint Records.''

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing final regulations governing when, during the hiring process, a hiring agency can request information typically collected during a background investigation from an applicant for Federal employment. In addition, OPM is issuing new regulations establishing the requirement for the timing of collection of criminal history information and for governing complaint procedures under which an applicant for a position in the civil service may submit a complaint, or any other information, relating to compliance by an employee of an agency in reference to the timing of collection of criminal history information. Furthermore, the final rule outlines adverse action procedures that apply when it is alleged that an agency employee has violated the requirements and appeal procedures that will be available from a determination by OPM adverse to the Federal employee. Nothing in this rule shall be read in derogation of any individual's rights under Title VII. This rule implements the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019 (Fair Chance Act). With some exceptions, the Fair Chance Act prohibits Federal agencies and Federal contractors acting on their behalf from requesting that an applicant for Federal employment disclose criminal history record information before the agency makes a conditional offer of employment to that applicant. The Fair Chance Act identifies some positions to which the prohibition shall not apply. It also requires OPM to establish complaint procedures under which an applicant for a position in the civil service may submit a complaint, or any other information, relating to compliance with the Fair Chance Act by an employee of an agency, establishes minimum penalties and procedures to be followed before a penalty may be assessed, and requires OPM to establish appeal procedures available in the event of a determination adverse to the Federal employee.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Retirement Services, offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on the review of the following expiring information collection request (ICR) without change: Self-Certification of Full-Time School Attendance for the School Year, RI 25-14, and Information and Instructions for Completing the Self-Certification of Full-Time School Attendance for the School Year, RI 25-14A.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Retirement Services, offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on the review of the following expiring information collection request (ICR) without change: We Need the Social Security Number of the Person Named Below, RI 38-45.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposes to modify an OPM system of records titled, ``OPM/GOVT-1 General Personnel Records'' System of Records. The records in this system of records are maintained by OPM and employing agencies in accordance with OPM regulations and instructions. OPM proposes to modify this system of records by revising Routine Uses ``s'' and ``hh''.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a proposed rule to redefine the geographic boundaries of the Northeastern Arizona and Utah appropriated fund Federal Wage System (FWS) wage areas for pay-setting purposes. The proposed rule would redefine Washington County, UT, and several National Parks portions of Garfield, Grand, Iron, San Juan, and Wayne Counties, UT, to the Northeastern Arizona 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 new information collection(ICR) 3206-NEW, titled ``Research Agreements for the Use of OPM Record-Level Data.''

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Retirement Services, offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on the review of an expiring information collection request (ICR) with change, titled ``Application for Court-Ordered Benefits for Former Spouses, Standard Form 3119.''

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Retirement Services, offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on an expiring information collection request (ICR), RI 38- 128It's Time to Sign Up for Direct Deposit or Direct Express, without change.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Retirement Services, offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on the review of an expiring information collection request (ICR) without change, titled ``Verification of Full-Time School Attendance,'' RI 25-49.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing regulations to implement changes authorized by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019 governing the selection of candidates from competitive lists of those who are eligible. These changes will provide expanded flexibility to agencies in the selection of candidates under delegated examining procedures. These changes also affect how agencies select candidates for excepted service appointments.