# 2026-15665: Feds decree: Skills trump years served in job cuts. 2026-15665, Reduction in Force, is a Federal Register rule from Personnel Management Office published 2026-08-03, effective 2026-09-02; deemed significant under Executive Order 12866; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-08-10). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15665 - As of: 2026-08-10 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Document number: 2026-15665 - Title: Reduction in Force - Type: Rule - Agencies: Personnel Management Office - Citation: 91 FR 49178 - Published: 2026-08-03 - Effective: 2026-09-02 - Comments close: not stated - Significant: yes (FR_METADATA) - Touches household money: yes - Regulation identifier numbers: 3206-AO86 - Last updated: 2026-08-10 ## In one line Feds decree: Skills trump years served in job cuts. ## Summary The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is revising its reduction in force (RIF) regulations to make the RIF regulations more streamlined, efficient, and merit-based by prioritizing performance over tenure and length of service when determining which employees will be retained in a RIF and by modifying the types of employees who are excluded from RIF competition. OPM is also revising its regulations regarding the reemployment priority list (RPL), career transition assistance program (CTAP), the interagency career transition assistance program (ICTAP), and transfers of function. ## Effects PRIA read - Performance Becomes Primary RIF Factor: mixed, high. Starting September 2, 2026, agencies must rank employees for reductions in force (RIFs) by performance first, then add veterans' preference, and use tenure subgroup and length of service only as tie-breakers. If your RIF notice is issued on or after September 2, 2026, this new order of retention ap… - New RIF Performance Scoring System: mixed, medium. OPM now calculates a numeric performance credit using your three most recent ratings from the relevant four-year period: Level 5 = 7 points, Level 4 = 5 points, Level 3 = 3 points, and Level 1 or 2 = 0 points. That numeric score is used in retention registers to decide who is retained in a RIF. - Veterans Get Numeric Preference Credits: benefit, high. Under the new rule, veterans' preference is applied by adding points to performance credit: +5 points for preference eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more, and +3 points for other preference eligibles. Those added points are combined with performance credit before… - Some Hires Excluded From RIF Competition: cost, medium. OPM excludes certain employees from RIF competition: those in initial probationary periods, trial periods, temporary or time-limited appointments of one year or less, and Schedule C and Schedule G employees. These employees are not 'competing employees' for RIF purposes and agencies may take action… - Pathways/Post‑Secondary Appointments Clarified: mixed, low. OPM updated rules in 5 CFR parts 316 and 362 to clarify how Pathways and post‑secondary student appointments are treated for RIF purposes so they conform to the new RIF framework. This clarifies RIF treatment for those in Pathways programs and post‑secondary student appointments. - Skills-Based Assessments Required for Assignments: mixed, medium. Agencies must use job-related skills assessments to decide whether employees or Reemployment Priority List (RPL) candidates are qualified for RIF assignment or RPL selection, unless the person held the same or substantially similar position within five years and had a Level 3 (Fully Successful) or… - New Assignment Rights Replace 'Bump and Retreat': benefit, medium. OPM replaces 'bump and retreat' with assignment rights: a released competitive‑service employee may be assigned to a qualifying position held by an employee with lower retention standing, generally within three grades below, or within five grades for 30%+ disabled veterans. This changes how release… - USERRA Retention and Restoration Clarified: benefit, medium. The rule requires agencies to apply USERRA retention protections and restoration rights as a mandatory exception to the order of release in a RIF. If an entire competitive area is abolished, an employee entitled to USERRA protections must be assigned elsewhere in the agency; if an entire agency is… - Transfer‑of‑Function Rules Narrowed: cost, medium. OPM narrowed transfer‑of‑function requirements so they apply only to transfers between agencies (not within an agency) and identifies employees tied to a transferring function as those who perform the function at least half the time. This changes which employees are treated as tied to a transferred… - Abolishing Entire Competitive Area Simplified: cost, high. When an entire competitive area is being abolished and all positions in that area are abolished within 180 days, agencies may release employees without ranking them on a retention register or applying assignment rights, and may use a simplified notice process. This changes procedures for employees… - RPL, CTAP, and ICTAP Updated to New Framework: mixed, medium. OPM updated Reemployment Priority List (RPL), Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP), and Interagency CTAP (ICTAP) rules to match the new RIF system: references to old tenure groups are replaced, selection methods emphasize skills-based assessments, preexisting eligibility through OPM‑recogniz… - Erosion‑of‑Duties Reclassifications Removed From RIF: mixed, low. Agencies no longer must use RIF procedures for erosion‑of‑duties reclassifications, but they cannot perform such a reclassification after announcing a RIF if it would worsen an employee's retention standing. This removes one trigger for RIF procedures while adding an anti‑manipulation safeguard. ## Related documents - [2026-19222](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-19222): Employment in the Excepted Service, 2026-09-18 - [2026-18828](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-18828): Shared Certificates and Pooled Hiring Actions, 2026-09-15 - [2026-18800](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-18800): Reduction in Force; Correction, 2026-09-15 - [2026-16687](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-16687): Differential Pay for Prescribed Wildland Fire Activities, 2026-08-14 - [2026-15650](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15650): Suitability Action Appeals, 2026-08-03 - [2026-15666](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15666): Reduction in Force Appeals, 2026-08-03 ## Sources - [2026-15665 on federalregister.gov](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/03/2026-15665/reduction-in-force) - [2026-15665 as published (PDF)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-03/pdf/2026-15665.pdf) ## Related - [Previous: 2026-15654, Streamlining Probationary and Trial Period Appeals](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15654) - [Next: 2026-15666, Reduction in Force Appeals](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15666) - [All Federal Register documents](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15665 (as of 2026-08-10).