Reading Room Document

OPM Authority to Regulate Reductions-in-Force in the Career Senior Executive Service

The document responds to questions regarding proposed Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regulations governing reductions-in-force (RIF's) for career appointees to the Senior Executive Service (SES). The conclusions reached in the document are: OPM is authorized to issue a rule governing RIF's of career SES appointees, and OPM is legally required to guarantee SES "fall-back rights" in a RIF only to those career SES employees serving their probationary year. The document also presents a legal analysis of OPM's authority and policy analysis of the fall-back rights issue, recommending a rewrite of the legal analysis before publication. The document raises questions about OPM's authority to regulate SES RIF's and the requirement to guarantee placement for removed SES appointees in non-SES civil service positions. The questions presented for review include whether OPM is authorized to regulate RIF's of career SES appointees and whether OPM is required to guarantee placement in the competitive or excepted civil service to removed SES appointees. The document also provides a brief review of federal personnel law and key terms to clarify the analysis that follows. It discusses the authority of OPM to regulate a wide range of personnel practices affecting all components of the civil service and the implications of the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) on SES appointments and removals. Additionally, the document addresses the legal analysis of OPM's authority to regulate SES RIF's and the analysis of fall-back rights for career SES appointees. It concludes with recommendations for rewriting the legal analysis and clarifying the policy position on fall-back rights.

June 26, 1981