Probationary and Trial Period Appeals
Current understanding
OPM has issued a final rule creating a new, limited appeals process — adjudicated by OPM rather than the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) — for federal employees and supervisors terminated during probationary or trial periods. The rule fills a gap left after an Executive Order rendered prior MSPB appeal procedures for these terminations inoperative. For workers, it establishes a narrower, agency-run avenue to challenge probationary removals; for agencies, it provides a defined procedural pathway for handling such appeals. Status: final rule.
Evidence log
- 2026-08-03 — Suitability Action Appeals: cross-connection with federal-personnel-suitability-vetting: Both are OPM final rules restructuring appellate pathways away from MSPB toward OPM-administered review for entry-workforce personnel actions. (novelty: 3)
- 2026-08-03 — Streamlining Probationary and Trial Period Appeals: cross-connection with reduction-in-force-appeals: Both are OPM final rules transferring adjudication of federal personnel appeals from MSPB to an OPM-run limited process, part of a broader restructuring of federal adverse-action appeal forums. (novelty: 3)