On February 25, 2025, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a guidance memorandum implementing major changes in the performance evaluation system for Senior Executive Service (SES) employees. This memorandum was issued to implement an executive order, which was previously analyzed in this blog.
Most of the updates to performance evaluation standards take effect in October 2025, with the start of the FY 2026 performance cycle. OPM indicated that the changes should also be applied to SES-level positions in parallel personnel systems in the Intelligence Community and the Foreign Service. OPM did not apply these standards to Senior Level (SL) or Scientific and Professional (ST) positions, but indicated that it was updating the performance appraisal systems for those employees, and would be issuing a separate guidance memorandum on that topic. However, updates to remove DEI language from SES performance evaluations was implemented, effective March 7, 2025.
Among the changes implemented by the memorandum are the following:
- No more than 30% of the SES employees at a given agency may receive 4 or 5 level ratings without presidential approval.
- Only SES employees receiving a 4 or 5 rating in a given performance cycle may receive a performance-based salary increase exceeding 5% of their salary. SES employees receiving a 3 rating may only receive a 5% increase to their salary.
- Any SES receiving a 1 final summary rating must be removed, transferred or reassigned.
- Any SES receiving two final summary ratings less than level 3 in a 3-year period must be removed.
- SES critical elements were modified. Under the new system, the most important critical element (representing 25% of the rating) involves not just commitments to uphold the law, but also requires more specifically implementation of the President’s policies. DEI elements in performance evaluations were removed.
- SES employees will now be rated quarterly.
Employees removed during their probationary periods are subject to different procedures than non-probationary SES employees.
Attached to the memorandum were the new performance evaluation standards and sample performance plans for implementation in FY 2026, as well as updated language for substitution into the FY 2025 SES performance plans.
OPM provided further implementing instructions on the executive order’s requirement to replace the staff on the SES performance review boards and executive resourced boards at agencies, as previously discussed in this blog.
If you are an SES employee and wish to seek advice regarding your rights based on these changes to the SES performance evaluation system, consider contacting Gilbert Employment Law, P.C. to request an initial consultation.