Appraisal
System Approval FAQs
The Office of Personnel Management's
"Guide to Submitting Performance Appraisal
Systems for OPM Review and Approval" provides
specific guidance about the procedures, documents, and
material that agencies submit to obtain the Office of
Personnel Management's review and approval of performance
appraisal systems under the regulations that became
effective September 22, 1995.
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Does
the Office of Personnel Management have to
approve an agency's performance appraisal system? |
| The Office of
Personnel Management (OPM) is required by statute
to review performance appraisal systems to ensure
they meet statutory and regulatory requirements.
Agencies submit appraisal system descriptions by
completing OPM Form 1631 and providing
appropriate attachments to that form. |
 
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|
Is
the list of items in section 430.204(b) of title
5, Code of Federal Regulations, that must be
included in agency performance appraisal systems
a complete list, or must other items also be
included? |
| Although the list in
the regulations covers the major components of an
agency system, it does not include some
technical, administrative material. The OPM Form
1631 was developed specifically to incorporate
all necessary system information and thereby make
the approval process as simple and clear as
possible. |
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|
Does
the Office of Personnel Management have to review
and approve all the appraisal programs? |
| No. However, before
any appraisal program developed under a new
agency appraisal system can be implemented, the
Office of Personnel Management must review and
approve the system, which sets out the limits
within which all the agency's programs must be
developed. |
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|
Once
an agencywide system has been approved by the
Office of Personnel Management, does the agency
have to approve its appraisal programs before
they can be implemented? |
| Technically, no-the
regulations are silent on this issue. However,
once an agency's appraisal system has the Office
of Personnel Management's approval, the agency is
responsible for ensuring that all its appraisal
programs comply with the policies and parameters
contained within its system. The requirement for
and timing of any actual review and approval of
such programs are at agency discretion.
Nevertheless, the Office of Personnel Management
expects that most agencies will include some
review and approval process, if only to ensure
that program coverage is properly coordinated.
That is, because programs must be mutually
exclusive, with no employee covered by more than
one program, some central oversight of all
programs might be necessary to assure this
result. |
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|
Must
the Office of Personnel Management approve a
performance appraisal system if the agency makes
only minor changes to its current system? |
| Yes. At any time an
agency proposes to change its performance
appraisal system to modify a provision that is
subject to a regulatory requirement, the agency
must submit the changes to the Office of
Personnel Management for review and approval
prior to implementation. For example, at the time
the final regulations went into effect on
September 22, 1995, no existing Performance
Management Plans included appraisal systems with
two levels because they had not been permitted
before then. Therefore, to permit using only two
levels to appraise elements or to summarily rate
performance, the Office of Personnel Management
must approve a system change before any appraisal
program under the system can implement two
levels. |
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|
Did
the 1995 regulations require agencies to submit
new appraisal systems for approval by the Office
of Personnel Management to replace their
Performance Management Plans established under
the pre-1995 regulations? |
| No. The performance
appraisal systems contained in Performance
Management Plans approved by the Office of
Personnel Management prior to September 22, 1995,
did NOT need to be changed in any way
unless agencies wanted to change them. While the
new regulations authorize new flexibility in the
performance management area, they continue to
accommodate such older agency systems. Also, a
specific regulatory provision at section
430.201(b) of title 5, Code of Federal
Regulations, ensures that the appraisal systems
contained in existing Performance Management
Plans remain in effect until changed by the
agency. |
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