New Appeals Process for VA Workers Who Lost Their Bonuses
Published Date: 1/15/2025
Notice
Summary
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is setting up a new system to handle appeals from current and former VA employees who are asked to pay back or lose bonuses, awards, or retirement benefits due to misconduct or poor performance. This system kicks in right away, with some parts effective February 18, 2025. If you’re affected, you can comment until February 14, 2025, and no new costs are expected.
Analyzed Economic Effects
7 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 3 costs, 0 mixed.
Personal and case records will be stored
The system will store appeal-related records such as the notice of proposed order, the employee's response, the order received, statements explaining why the employee believes the order is in error, names and contact information (mailing address, telephone, email) for the employee and any authorized representative, VA official contact information, and the evidence files relied on in the VA order.
Records can be shared with many agencies
OPM may disclose records from this system to courts or adjudicative bodies, the Department of Justice, Federal/State/local law enforcement, members of Congress or their staff, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), other Federal agencies for breach response, contractors or consultants working for OPM, the VA and the VA Office of Inspector General, external parties believed to possess relevant evidence, and agencies like the Department of Defense and Office of the Director of National Intelligence for background investigations.
Records treated as permanent until NARA decides
OPM will treat records about covered individuals in this system as permanent until a records retention schedule is established with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
You can access and amend your records
Individuals can request access to or amendment of their records by emailing or mailing OPM (addresses provided); requests must state they are for 'OPM/Internal--31, VA Recoupment and Reduction Appeals to OPM' and include the individual's full name, any former names, date of birth, contact preference, and signature. Amendment requests must also describe the records to amend and include supporting documents.
OPM creates VA appeal records system
OPM set up a new system of records called OPM/Internal--31 to process appeals from current and former civil service Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees who were ordered to recoup or reduce awards, bonuses, relocation expenses, or retirement benefits and appealed that order to the Director of OPM.
Key dates: comments and routine-use start
You can submit comments on the new system until February 14, 2025. The system is effective upon publication (January 15, 2025), and the routine uses described become effective February 18, 2025.
OPM sets security requirements for records
OPM says records will be stored electronically on OPM-operated or contractor servers or on paper in locked file cabinets; access is limited to authorized users and protections include encryption, role-based access, privacy/security training, and compliance with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) and NIST standards.
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Key Dates
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