Determining the Appropriate Penalty for Federal Employees Charged With Misconduct
- Published
- Sep 3, 2026
- Effective
- Oct 5, 2026
- Citation
- 91 FR 56549
- Docket
- Docket ID: OPM-2025-0012
Final rule.
Summary
The new rule changes how the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) reviews penalties that federal agencies impose on employees for misconduct. Instead of automatically applying a fixed list of twelve factors from an old court case, the Board will now look at each situation as a whole and decide whether the agency’s punishment falls within a reasonable range. The goal is to make the review process more flexible and better suited to the specific facts of each case. The regulation was issued by the Merit Systems Protection Board, the independent agency that handles appeals of federal employment actions. It applies to all federal employees who face disciplinary actions such as suspensions, demotions, or terminations for misconduct, as well as to the agencies that impose those penalties. The rule was published on September 3, 2026, and becomes effective on October 5, 2026. With the effective date, the Board will begin applying the new, case‑by‑case standard when evaluating appeals, and agencies will no longer be required to reference the twelve‑factor test in every penalty decision.
AI-generated summary — verify against the Federal Register text.
Official abstract
The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB or Board) is issuing a final rule amending its regulations governing the Board's review of the reasonableness of an agency's chosen penalty in misconduct-based adverse actions appealed to the Board. Under the final rule, the Board will no longer require consideration of the 12 factors set forth in Douglas v. Veterans Administration, 5 M.S.P.R. 280 (1981), in every case. Instead, the Board will evaluate whether the agency's penalty is within the tolerable limits of reasonableness in light of the totality of the circumstances, determined on a case-by-case basis.
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