Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service, and Recruitment and Relocation Incentive Waivers; Correcting Amendments

Issuing agencies

Abstract

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is correcting technical and conforming errors arising from two recent final rules: "Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service," published February 6, 2026 and effective March 9, 2026, and "Recruitment and Relocation Incentive Waivers," published December 15, 2025 and effective February 13, 2026. The corrections make no substantive change to the regulations.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 163 (Tuesday, August 25, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 163 (Tuesday, August 25, 2026)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 54796-54797]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-17334]


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OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Part 575

[Docket IDs: OPM-2025-0004; OPM-2023-0027]
RIN 3206-AO80; 3206-AO36


Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the 
Civil Service, and Recruitment and Relocation Incentive Waivers; 
Correcting Amendments

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Final rule; correcting amendments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is correcting 
technical and conforming errors arising from two recent final rules: 
``Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil 
Service,'' published February 6, 2026 and effective March 9, 2026, and 
``Recruitment and Relocation Incentive Waivers,'' published December 
15, 2025 and effective February 13, 2026. The corrections make no 
substantive change to the regulations.

DATES: Effective August 25, 2026.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aaron Gottesman, Senior Advisor to the 
Director, by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b8ddd5c8d4d7c1ddddd9dbdbd7cdd6ccd9dad1d4d1ccc1f8d7c8d596dfd7ce"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="82e7eff2eeedfbe7e7e3e1e1edf7ecf6e3e0ebeeebf6fbc2edf2eface5edf4">[email&#160;protected]</span></a> or by phone at 
(202) 606-7400.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On December 15, 2025, OPM published a final rule at 90 FR 57867 
(the incentive waivers rule) amending subparts A and B of 5 CFR part 
575 to expand agency authority to approve waivers of the payment 
limitations on recruitment and relocation incentives and to permit 
recruitment incentive service periods of less than 6 months. That rule 
became effective February 13, 2026. On February 6, 2026, OPM published 
a final rule at 91 FR 5580 (the Schedule Policy/Career rule) amending 
several parts of title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, including 
Sec. Sec.  575.104, 575.204, and 575.304 and the authority citation for 
part 575, to address incentive payments for employees whose positions 
are moved into Schedule Policy/Career. That rule became effective March 
9, 2026. After publication, OPM identified the technical errors in part 
575 described below, each of which has been carried into the Code of 
Federal Regulations.

[[Page 54797]]

II. Need for Correction

A. Corrections Relating to the Schedule Policy/Career Rule

    First, the Schedule Policy/Career rule revised and republished 
Sec. Sec.  575.104, 575.204, and 575.304 (Ineligible categories of 
employees). In each section, the rule restructured former paragraphs 
(a) through (d) as paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(4) in order to add a 
new paragraph (b) addressing incentive payments for employees whose 
positions are moved into Schedule Policy/Career. The rule did not, 
however, conform the internal cross-reference in the introductory text 
of newly designated paragraph (a)(4) of each section, which continues 
to refer to ``the exclusions in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this 
section.'' Under the revised structure of each section, the exclusions 
appear in paragraphs (a)(1) through (3); paragraph (b) is not an 
exclusion; and there is no paragraph (c). This document conforms the 
cross-reference in each of the three sections.
    Second, the parallel paragraphs (b) added to Sec. Sec.  575.104, 
575.204, and 575.304 by the Schedule Policy/Career rule contain two 
unintended phrasing discrepancies: Sec.  575.104(b)(1) requires the 
employee to ``fulfill that term,'' while the parallel provisions at 
Sec. Sec.  575.204(b)(1) and 575.304(b)(1) use ``fulfill that agreed-
upon service period''; and the introductory text of Sec.  575.304(b) 
reads ``Notwithstanding any provision in this subpart,'' while 
Sec. Sec.  575.104(b) and 575.204(b) read ``Notwithstanding any other 
provision in this subpart.'' This document harmonizes the phrasing of 
these parallel provisions. No difference in meaning was intended or 
results.
    Third, the Schedule Policy/Career rule revised the authority 
citation for part 575, setting out the citation as it existed before 
the incentive waivers rule. Because the Schedule Policy/Career rule 
became effective March 9, 2026, its revision superseded, without 
discussion, the revised authority citation for part 575 that the 
incentive waivers rule had made effective February 13, 2026. This 
document revises the authority citation for part 575 to restore the 
formulation adopted in the incentive waivers rule. The authorities 
cited are identical in substance under either formulation.

B. Correction Relating to the Incentive Waivers Rule

    The incentive waivers rule revised Sec.  575.110(a) to remove the 
requirement that a recruitment incentive service period be at least 6 
months, permitting agencies to establish service periods of less than 6 
months but not more than 4 years. The rule did not make the conforming 
amendment to the definition of ``Service agreement'' in Sec.  575.102, 
which continues to describe ``a specified period of employment of not 
less than 6 months or more than 4 years.'' This document conforms the 
definition to Sec.  575.110(a) as revised, consistent with the parallel 
definition in Sec.  575.202.

C. Pre-Existing Typographical Error

    In Sec.  575.109(a), the introductory text joins the phrase ``An 
agency may pay a recruitment incentive'' to paragraph (a)(1) with a 
hyphen rather than an em dash. The error predates the two rules 
described above and appears in the official annual edition of the Code 
of Federal Regulations. This document replaces the hyphen with an em 
dash, consistent with the parallel provision at Sec.  575.209(a).

III. Procedural Requirements

    OPM finds good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to issue these 
correcting amendments without prior notice and opportunity for comment, 
because the amendments merely conform cross-references, definitions, 
parallel phrasing, and punctuation to regulatory text previously 
adopted after notice and comment, and make no substantive change to the 
regulations; notice and comment are therefore unnecessary. For the same 
reason, OPM finds good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to make these 
corrections effective upon publication.
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.

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 575

    Government employees, Wages.
Signing Statement
    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.
    Accordingly, OPM corrects 5 CFR part 575 by making the following 
correcting amendments:

PART 575--RECRUITMENT, RELOCATION, AND RETENTION INCENTIVES; 
SUPERVISORY DIFFERENTIALS; AND EXTENDED ASSIGNMENT INCENTIVES

0
1. The authority citation for part 575 is revised to read as follows:

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 1104(a)(2), 5307. Subparts A and B also 
issued under 5 U.S.C. 5753. Subpart C also issued under 5 U.S.C. 
5754. Subpart D also issued under 5 U.S.C. 5755. Subpart E also 
issued under 5 U.S.C. 5757; sec. 207, Pub. L. 107-273, 116 Stat. 
1780 (5 U.S.C. 5307 note).

Subpart A--Recruitment Incentives


Sec.  575.102   [Amended]

0
2. In Sec.  575.102, amend the definition of ``Service agreement'' by 
removing ``of not less than 6 months or more than 4 years'' and adding 
in its place ``of not more than 4 years''.


Sec.  575.104   [Amended]

0
3. In Sec.  575.104:
0
a. Amend paragraph (a)(4) introductory text by removing ``paragraphs 
(a), (b), and (c)'' and adding in its place ``paragraphs (a)(1) through 
(3)''; and
0
b. Amend paragraph (b)(1) by removing ``fulfill that term'' and adding 
in its place ``fulfill that agreed-upon service period''.


Sec.  575.109   [Amended]

0
4. In Sec.  575.109, amend paragraph (a) introductory text by removing 
in the second sentence ``recruitment incentive-'' and adding in its 
place ``recruitment incentive--''.

Subpart B--Relocation Incentives


Sec.  575.204   [Amended]

0
5. In Sec.  575.204, amend paragraph (a)(4) introductory text by 
removing ``paragraphs (a), (b), and (c)'' and adding in its place 
``paragraphs (a)(1) through (3)''.

Subpart C--Retention Incentives


Sec.  575.304  [Amended]

0
6. In Sec.  575.304:
0
a. Amend paragraph (a)(4) introductory text by removing ``paragraphs 
(a), (b), and (c)'' and adding in its place ``paragraphs (a)(1) through 
(3)''; and
0
b. Amend paragraph (b) introductory text by removing ``Notwithstanding 
any provision'' and adding in its place ``Notwithstanding any other 
provision''.

[FR Doc. 2026-17334 Filed 8-24-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-39-P


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