Your Questions, Answered

The basic principles of the federal civil service—such as merit hiring, nonpartisanship and fair treatment of employees—were established by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 and are reflected in Title 5 of U.S. Code through nine Merit System Principles and 14 Prohibited Personnel Practices. 

These foundational principles are complemented by laws that help define the conditions of federal employment, such as the Hatch Act, which restricts political activity by civil servants, and the Whistleblower Protection Act, which protects employees who report misconduct or illegal activity.  

Civil service rules are enforced by several agencies: the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Office of Special Counsel, the Office of Personnel Management, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Federal Labor Relations Authority.  

According to the standards of ethical conduct for federal employees, “each employee has a responsibility to the United States Government and its citizens to place loyalty to the Constitution, laws, and ethical principles above private gain.”  

Civil servants must adhere to the federal government’s Fourteen General Principles of Ethical Conduct, which elaborate on the standards for ethical conduct and set parameters for public servants’ behavior around impartiality, serving the public interest and avoiding conflicts of interest, among other topics.  

These laws and regulations complement the Merit System Principles and Prohibited Personnel Practices. 

Civilian career employees must also follow numerous ethics laws to ensure they carry out the lawful policies of an administration and uphold merit system principles while doing so. These ethics laws include the Hatch Act, which limits the political activities of federal employees. Career employees are bound by strict ethics and political interference laws, including potential criminal penalties for violating conflict of interest statutes. 

The basic rights of federal civil servants are codified in the Merit System Principles and enforced through 14 Prohibited Personnel Practices. These rights include:

• Being hired based solely on merit 
• Receiving fair and equitable treatment as an employee 
• Receiving equal pay for work of equal value 
• Being protected from arbitrary action, personal favoritism, discrimination, coercion for partisan political purposes and reprisal for whistleblowing. 

Additionally, career members of the Senior Executive Service, employees of intelligence and law enforcement agencies, as well as agencies involved in elections and the enforcement of civil service protections, are prohibited from taking an active part in partisan political management or partisan political campaigns. 

• Schedule Policy/Career is a federal employment category, or “schedule,” established by the current Trump administration via executive order. The order permits agency leaders to reassign some federal positions from their current employment category into a new category.  
• Additionally, in April 2025, the Office of Personnel Management proposed a new rule to regulate Schedule Policy/Career as directed by the January 2025 executive order.  
• Schedule Policy/Career will broadly apply to career federal employees in policymaking roles.  
• However, the full scope of which positions might be affected is unclear, as the executive order directs agency heads to recommend specific roles to the president that will fall under Schedule Policy/Career. Following the finalization of the new OPM rule, President Trump will sign a new executive order officially moving positions to the new schedule. 
  • See more under “How do I know if Schedule Policy/Career will apply to me?” below.  
• Schedule Policy/Career employees will have fewer employment protections, making them easier to fire.  

• It is unclear how the Schedule Policy/Career guidelines will be implemented because much of the reclassification process is at the president’s discretion. 
• The executive order creating Schedule Policy/Career directs agency leaders to identify all employees in competitive service positions or in other schedules already excepted from the competitive service “of a confidential, policy-determining, policymaking, or policy-advocating character.”  
• The executive order lists certain job duties that agency heads should consider—for example, whether the position involves developing or drafting regulations or guidance. It also directs OPM to issue guidance on additional categories of positions that agencies should consider for the Policy/Career schedule.  
• It is up to the agency heads to decide how to apply these considerations and then make a recommendation to the president on which positions to reclassify as Schedule Policy/Career.    

• The January 2025 executive order and April 2025 proposed rule clarify that Schedule Policy/Career is directed at career federal employees in competitive and exempted service positions. The executive order also includes some guidance for agency heads to use when determining which roles to recommend for Schedule Policy/Career, and it directs the OPM director to issue further guidance about additional categories of positions agencies should consider for recommendation. 
• Additionally, the executive order and proposed rule state that Schedule Policy/Career employees, or applicants for these positions, are not required to personally or politically support the president or the policies of the current administration. The 2020 Schedule F executive order did not make this distinction.    

• The Government Accountability Office found that no agency placed positions in Schedule F before the executive order was revoked in January 2021.  
• However, according to GAO, some agencies had begun to consider doing so. For example, OPM approved the Office of Management and Budget’s request to move 136 types of positions into Schedule F. This shift would have involved 415 employees—or 68% of OMB’s workforce. 
• The April 2025 proposed rule says “OPM estimates that approximately 50,000 positions would be moved or transferred into Schedule Policy/Career.” 

• The Biden administration finalized a rule in April 2024 that established procedural requirements for moving positions from the competitive service to the excepted service, or from one excepted service to another.  
• The rule mandated that the civil service protections employees accrue cannot be taken away if their position is involuntarily moved. It also gave civil servants who are involuntarily moved and stripped of those accrued protections the right to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board.  
• In April 2025, the Trump administration proposed a new regulation that rescinds the Biden administration’s rule and formally regulates Schedule Policy/Career. The new Schedule Policy/Career regulation by the Trump administration must go through a rulemaking process which generally takes months to complete. 
• The Trump administration has decided to forgo the usual notice and comment process to remove the Biden administration rule which may result in challenges in court. The April 2025 proposed rule states that President Trump has used his executive authority to make the January 2024 amendments to OPM’s regulations invalid.   

• The executive order requires agencies to follow the principle of veterans’ preference as far as “administratively feasible,” which leaves its implementation unclear.  
• Additionally, the Trump administration’s rule proposed in April 2025 states that individuals in Schedule Policy/Career will retain the competitive status they have earned otherwise. 
• Individuals moved to Schedule Policy/Career positions would lose certain due process rights, such as notice of removal and the right to appeal if removed from a job. 
• The January 2025 executive order also requires agencies to establish rules around prohibited personnel practices. It is unclear what approaches agencies may take in implementing these rules. 

• Attempts to retroactively move employees into Schedule Policy/Career are likely to be challenged in court.  
• Federal employee unions, as well as other organizations, challenged the 2020 Schedule F executive order, and lawsuits have already been filed to challenge the new 2025 directive.  

• Congress could pass legislation that creates or prevents the creation of new federal employment categories or modifies federal employee protections.  
• Additionally, once it is finalized, Congress can vote to reject the new Schedule Policy/Career OPM rule using a Congressional Review Act resolution. 

Due process is designed to ensure that adverse actions—actions considered unfavorable to an employee, such as firing, suspension, furlough or demotion—are taken in accordance with the merit system principles and for proper cause. 

Depending on the issues involved, the facilitation of due process is the responsibility of the affected employee’s agency, the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Office of Special Counsel. Please visit their websites for more information about the types of appeals that should be filed with each entity. 

• Yes. Employees can secure an attorney to represent them in these matters. The agency does not represent the employee, so employees must retain their own counsel. In some cases, professional liability insurance may cover the cost of legal services.  
• Many federal management and executive employee associations, along with federal unions, offer guidance to their members on legal support and professional liability insurance, including but not limited to the:
  • Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association  
  • Federal Managers Association  
  • National Active and Retired Federal Employees  
  • National Federation of Federal Employees  
  • National Treasury Employees Union  
  • Professional Managers Association 
  • Senior Executives Association 

• Typically, employees secure attorneys if they are under congressional investigation. Some external organizations that can provide more insights include Protect Democracy and We the Action. 

Reduction in Force is the federal term for layoffs.  

• Federal agencies have the right to decide if a RIF is necessary and, if so, when it will occur.
• The RIF process is governed by detailed regulations that outline the process of identifying which positions to terminate, thereby prohibiting arbitrary management decisions.  
• Federal rules require layoff decisions to be based on employees’ tenure status, veteran’s preference, length of service, job performance and whether the employees are part of the competitive or excepted service. 
• Agencies may, but are not required to, offer vacant positions to employees designated for separation through a RIF.   

• RIFs can affect civil servants in both the competitive and excepted services as well as career members of the Senior Executive Service. Individual agencies develop their own RIF procedures for SES members, which must be based primarily upon performance and be approved by OPM. 
• Political appointees serve at the pleasure of the president and therefore are not affected by RIFs. 

Since 2010, RIFs have resulted in just over 5,000 separations* of federal civil servants, a small fraction of the more than 3 million total separations that occurred during the same period. *This number does not reflect any RIF actions taken since Jan. 20, 2025. 

• Agencies are required to justify their RIF under six possible statutory reasons for action: (1) lack of work, (2) shortage of funds, (3) insufficient personnel ceiling, (4) reorganization, (5) an individual’s exercise of reemployment rights or restoration rights, and (6) reclassification of an employee’s position due to erosion of duties.  
• Most RIFs occur as a result of agency reorganizations, including decisions to privatize or outsource work.  

Agencies must give written notice to employees designated for separation through a RIF. They must provide notice at least 60 days prior to separation. 

• Yes. Employees separated through a RIF have the right to appeal the decision to the Merit Systems Protection Board. Employees have 30 days to file an appeal beginning the day after the effective date of the RIF action. 
• Separated employees from a protected class may file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission if they believe discrimination was a factor in their selection for separation. Similarly, employees may file a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel if they believe their RIF separation is retaliation for being a whistleblower. 
• Some employees in a bargaining unit may have alternative appeal rights and timelines depending on their collective bargaining agreement. 

Employees who accept a lower-grade position as a result of a RIF are entitled   to retain the former higher grade for two years (which affects most benefits including pay, retirement, life insurance, eligibility for training, noncompetitive promotions and within-grade increases)—provided they completed at least 52 consecutive weeks at the higher grade.  

Employees are eligible to receive severance pay depending on their status and standing. More information can be found on the Office of Personnel Management’s website.  

The laws of an employee’s state or jurisdiction will determine the amount of unemployment benefits and the length of time they will be received. If you are separated, you should file a claim for benefits at your state employment service office or unemployment insurance claims office. 

• Career Transition Assistance Plan: The Career Transition Assistance Plan is an intra-agency program that helps surplus or displaced federal employees improve their chances of finding a new job in their agency by giving them selection priority over other applicants, as long as they’re qualified for the job. 
• Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan: The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan is an interagency program that helps surplus or displaced federal employees improve their chances of finding a new job at another agency (not their current or former agency) by giving them selection priority over other applicants from outside the agency. 

Yes. Employees on temporary detail to another position or another agency can be affected by RIF actions undertaken in their home office.  

• No. There are several ways agencies can reduce the size of their workforce or cut positions without layoffs: 
  • Agencies may conduct layoffs through a “buyout”—formally known as Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments (VSIP)—by offering permanent employees a lump-sum payment to resign or retire. VSIPs allow agencies to avoid cumbersome and often expensive RIF actions.  
  • Agencies may offer qualifying employees early retirement under a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA). This mechanism allows federal employees to retire at age 50 with 20 years of service or at any age with 25 years rather than the standard combinations of age and years of service.  
  • Agencies may avoid a RIF action by reassigning employees whose position is terminated to a vacant position at the same grade or pay, which may be in the same or in a different classification series, line of work, and/or geographic location. 
  • Agencies may offer employees the option to voluntarily accept a new position at a lower grade instead of being separated, though they must do this before implementing a related RIF. 

• Yes. Agencies have the statutory authority to manage the day-to-day operations of their employees.
• According to the Office of Personnel Management, agencies may reassign their employees when there is a legitimate organizational reason.  A collective bargaining agreement cannot prohibit management-directed reassignments, but  it may dictate the process by which employees are reassigned, such as by requiring a notice period. 

Federal civil servants employed under the competitive service, excepted service and Senior Executive Service may be reassigned.  

Yes. Agencies may reassign employees from a special rate position to a non-special rate position at the same grade or to a position with less promotion potential.  

Yes. Agencies may reassign employees to a position located in the same or in a different geographic area. 

Generally, employees who must relocate due to reassignment are eligible for a relocation expense allowance. More information on required relocation expense allowances can be found on the Office of Personnel Management website.  

Yes. For more information on filing an appeal see, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board: How to File an Appeal. 

No—not without being exposed to an adverse action, including possible separation, particularly depending on your grade level and status. 

• Congress has constitutional authority for the structural organization of the executive branch, the creation of the agencies within it and the reorganization of any of those agencies. The president and agency heads, however, have the authority to make smaller-scale structural and procedural changes to agencies provided they don’t conflict with the law.
• In the past, Congress has delegated some reorganization authority to presidents.  

• Without special authority from Congress, presidents have the power not only to appoint agency heads who have the discretion to organize and manage day-to-day operations of their organizations but also to issue executive orders to create agency offices. 
• Agency heads are responsible for the powers, duties and functions of their agency’s subcomponents and may effect small organizational changes by delegating those responsibilities. 
• When an agency undergoes a statutory reorganization or a smaller-scale reorganization authorized by the president, the agency can influence the impact of the reorganization through its internal operations, such as by deciding whether to relocate responsibilities from one of its operational locations to another. 
• The distinction of when a president can and cannot implement agency organizations may not always be clear. For more information, the Congressional Research Service has evaluated several agency reorganization proposals presidents could implement as well as those that would require Congress to pass legislation. 

No. Agencies have the statutory authority to conduct Reductions in Force (RIF), the federal term for layoffs, as part of a reorganization—but not all agency reorganizations lead to RIFs. (See more information on Reductions in Force below). 

• Federal employees should download their personnel and benefits documents including their SF-50, eOPF and most recent performance reviews. 
• It is also recommended that employees request a copy of their Security Clearance Verification Form (500-3). 

• The Notification of Personnel Action Form (SF-50) documents information about a federal employee’s position, including personnel actions that affect their employment status. Such actions may include promotions, reassignments, or terminations.  
• Employees should save a copy of their SF-50 to verify employment details or address future employment disputes. 

• Employees should regularly check the accuracy of their SF-50s and report any errors to their agency’s human resources department. 
• There is a formal correction process for amending mistakes in the SF-50 form. Employees should create a new SF-50 form and provide a written explanation for the correction. 

• The electronic Official Personnel Folder  is an online database for federal employees’ personnel information. The eOPF allows federal workers to secure, document and access their employment data. 
• An employee’s user ID and password should have been made available at the start of their appointment. Employees are responsible for checking the accuracy of their own data. 

• Instructions to download your eOPF may vary by agency. If you cannot find instructions, contact your office’s human resources representative. 

• The competitive service encompasses all civil service positions in the executive branch of the federal government, with some exceptions. Roughly two-thirds of federal civil servants are in the competitive service.  
• Employees in the competitive service are subject to a competitive hiring process before being appointed which is open to all applicants. 

• Employees in the excepted service are not subject to the competitive hiring process and are often appointed under unique circumstances, such as the need for specialized skills. 
• Presidents, the Office of Personnel Management and Congress over the years have created various excepted service authorities which have their own hiring processes and are not subject to the appointment, pay, or classification rules in Title 5 of the U.S. Code. Some excepted service authorities are available government-wide, while some are specific to certain agencies. 

• Members of the Senior Executive Service  typically hold executive management roles, bridging the gap between presidential appointees and the rest of the federal workforce. 
• The SES is subject to regulations separate from both the competitive service and excepted service and has its own pay structure. Most SES members are career employees who are hired into the SES through a merit-based process. 

• To determine if you are part of the competitive, excepted, or Senior Executive Service, review Block 34 (“Position Occupied”) on your SF-50 form. “1” indicates a competitive service appointment, “2” indicates an excepted service appointment, “3” indicates a SES general appointment and “4” indicates a SES career reserved appointment. 
• If you see an asterisk in Block 34 or have any additional questions, consult your agency’s human resources department. 

• If you are part of the competitive service, you can determine if you are a career or career-conditional employee by referring to Block 24 (“Tenure”) on your SF-50 form. “1” indicates a career appointment and “2” indicates a career-conditional appointment. 
• Most federal workers in the competitive service begin as a career-conditional appointment before receiving full tenure in the civil service. After three years of continuous service, they then receive a career appointment. 

• To determine whether your probationary period has ended, check the hiring date on your SF-50 form. There should be a note about the start date and duration of your probationary period. This information should also have been included in writing in your final job offer. 
• If you are unable to locate this information, consult Block 24 (“Tenure”) on your SF-50 form. “1” indicates that you have completed at least three years of service and have thus likely completed your probationary period, which typically is one year but could be longer for some positions such as those involving specialized training. “2” indicates that although you hold a permanent position, you have not yet completed three years of service and may still hold probationary status. 
• Contact your agency’s human resources department if you are unable to confirm your probationary status. 

• Yes. Probationary periods may apply to any employee who is new to a higher-level appointment, even if they are not new to the federal workforce. Probationary periods may also apply to federal employees appointed to a different agency through a new hiring action, particularly if they are taking on a different role. 

• Bargaining unit status is listed in Block 37 of your SF-50 form.  
• If your position is not covered the code is “8888” and if your position is eligible for coverage but no unit currently exists, the code is “7777”. If your position is both eligible and a bargaining unit exists, you will have a different numeric code. 

• To find a copy of your agency’s telework policy, first search the organization’s intranet and your Official Personnel Folder. 
• If you are unable to locate the policy, contact your agency’s telework coordinator, telework managing officer  or the human resources department. 

• Performance reviews for federal employees are stored in either the electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF) or in the Employee Performance File.  

• If a federal employee is no longer able to access government systems, they should first contact their agency’s personnel officer to request a copy of their personnel records. 
• If this is unsuccessful, employees may also submit a written request to the National Personnel Records Center, which houses paper copies of federal workers’ Official Personnel Folders. However, OPFs are not retired to the NPCR until 120 days after a separation; if less than four months has elapsed since an employee’s separation, they should first contact their former agency’s personnel officer or human resources department.   

• Federal employees who have been separated from the workforce are entitled to and should retain login information for the following benefits platforms: 
• The Thrift Savings Plan. 
• The Federal Employees Health Benefits  Program. Federal workers may continue receiving health insurance for 18 months after a separation through a temporary continuation of coverage . Employees must register for a TCC within 60 days of separation.  
• The Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program . Enrollees may continue to receive coverage under FLTCIP so long as they continue to pay their premium and have not exhausted their maximum lifetime benefit.  
• The Federal Employees Group Life Insurance  Program. Coverage will continue without cost for 31 days after a separation. 
• FSAFEDS. Although employees’ enrollment in FSAFEDS ends on the date of separation, eligible health care expenses incurred before a separation will still be reimbursed. Additionally, for enrollees in a Dependent Care  account, any remaining balance may still be used until the end of the calendar year. 
• BENEFEDS. Although separated workers lose access to their dental and vision insurance after a separation, the BENEFEDS portal provides valuable information and enrollment options for non-governmental coverage.