Civil Service Retirement System and Federal Employees' Retirement System: Secondary Position Definitions
Published Date: 2/4/2026
Proposed Rule
Summary
The Office of Personnel Management wants to change the rules about who can hold certain executive jobs for law enforcement, firefighters, and similar roles. They’re removing the rule that says you must have experience in a primary job before moving up, giving agencies more freedom to hire leaders. If you work in these fields, keep an eye out—comments on this change are open until March 6, 2026, and it could affect hiring and career paths soon.
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 2 costs, 0 mixed.
New hires without primary experience lose enhanced pension
Under the proposal, a person recruited into an executive-level secondary position who does not have prior primary-position experience would not qualify for enhanced retirement coverage. OPM notes that providing enhanced retirement benefits to individuals without primary experience would require a change in law (legislation).
Current covered employees keep their enhanced pensions
Employees who already have enhanced retirement coverage and who are promoted into qualifying executive secondary positions (meeting the transfer rules: e.g., having worked at least 3 years in a primary position and moving without a break in service) will retain their enhanced retirement benefits. Agency coverage determinations remain appealable to the Merit Systems Protection Board.
Agencies can hire execs without front‑line time
If this rule is adopted, agencies that employ law enforcement officers, firefighters, nuclear materials couriers, and customs and border protection officers may recruit for certain executive-level (secondary) positions without requiring the candidate to have previously served at least 3 years in a primary (front-line) position. OPM says this change gives agencies more flexibility to hire leaders with different backgrounds and skills and could affect roughly the ~3,206 GS-15-or-higher positions with enhanced retirement coverage as of October 2020.
No retroactive new pension coverage for incumbents
The proposed change would not be applied retroactively: an incumbent who moved into an executive position before that position was designated a secondary position would not gain enhanced retirement coverage because the position was not so designated at the time of movement. OPM gives a concrete example showing such incumbents would remain ineligible despite later designation changes.
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Key Dates
Department and Agencies
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