Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP) Federal Personnel Rescission
Current understanding
OPM is issuing an interim final rule removing all references to the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP) from federal civil service regulations, conforming OPM rules to a June 9, 2026 DOJ Office of Legal Counsel opinion that found UGESP — the 1978 interagency framework governing disparate-impact analysis of employment tests and selection procedures — unlawful. For federal applicants and employees, the practical effect is that the ‘4/5ths rule’ and related validation and recordkeeping expectations no longer bind federal personnel selection through OPM regulations, though underlying Title VII statutory prohibitions on discriminatory selection remain in force. The move is contested: supporters argue UGESP exceeded statutory authority and imposed race- and sex-conscious analysis inconsistent with recent Supreme Court precedent, while critics view it as removing a longstanding technical standard used to detect discriminatory selection procedures.
Evidence log
- 2026-07-31 — Removal of References to the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures in Federal Personnel Regulations: cross-connection with eeoc-affirmative-action-guidelines-rescission: Both are 2026 executive-branch actions dismantling foundational Title VII interpretive frameworks (UGESP selection procedures; 1979 affirmative action guidelines), citing statutory-text and Supreme Court precedent grounds. (novelty: 3)