STRATEGIC PLAN

FOR

PERSONNEL ACTION DOCUMENTATION 

AND 

RECORDKEEPING

Prepared by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management 

Office of Workforce Information

 Human Resources Systems Service

November 1996
CONTENTS

PAGE

PART I - INTRODUCTION 1

Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM’s) Governmentwide 2

 Documentation Authority

History 2

Size 3

Documentation and Recordkeeping Resources 3

Documentation and Recordkeeping Stakeholders 4

PART II - THE PROPOSAL 5

PART III - PROJECTS 6

1. Unnecessary Official Personnel Folder (OPF) Filing Requirements 6

2. Flexibility in Processing Requests for Personnel Actions 7

3. Redefinition of Official Personnel Actions 8

4. Approval of Agency Conversion of OPF Content

to Non-Paper Mediums for Internal Use 9

5. Standard Form 50 (SF 50), Notification of Personnel Action

a. Alternatives to the SF 50 for Informing Employees 

of Personnel Actions 10

b. Reducing the Number of SF 50 Remarks 11

c. Personnel Action History Transcripts in Lieu of SFs 50 12

6. Electronic Transfer of Preliminary Employment Information 13

7. Documents With Original Written Signatures 14

8. Filing of Benefit Documents 15

9. OPF Personnel Data Element Standardization 16

10. OPF Transcript of Service 17

11. Merged Records Personnel Folder (MRPF) 18

12. Submission of Electronic OPFs to the National Personnel

Records Center 19

13. Capability to Generate Paper 20

PART IV - COMPLETION 21

ii
STRATEGIC PLAN 1 PART I — INTRODUCTION

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

PART I — INTRODUCTION

In response to National Performance Review (NPR) recommendations and other

guidance, the U. S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has delegated to

agencies a large measure of flexibility in the management of the Federal government's

human resources. Concurrently, advances in automation technologies are providing

new opportunities to improve human resources management. Pushed by these

changes and consistent with the spirit of the NPR to identify essential functions and

then use technology to perform them more efficiently, we reassessed our personnel

documentation and recordkeeping requirements. 

Personnel documentation and recordkeeping requirements serve a number of

functions, but the prime function is to provide an employment history that can be used

to make personnel management determinations about employees throughout their

Federal careers. The technologies used to perform this function may change, but the

basic function will not. 

Current documentation and recordkeeping requirements were designed for a paperbased system supporting a highly centralized human resources management system. 

With the improved efficiency and lowered costs of modern technologies, we believe

that we should be moving toward fully automated systems and paperless personnel

processing. Consistent with OPM's delegations of human resources management

flexibilities to agencies, we believe we may effectively delegate documentation,

recordkeeping and automation flexibilities to reduce central recordkeeping

requirements. 

This goal is long-term. There are a number of steps that must be taken to meet this

goal while continuing to fulfill the basic function of personnel documentation. This

paper describes the steps - projects that we propose to undertake with participation

from other interested parties. Each project will itself change some aspect of personnel

documentation and recordkeeping as well as bring us closer to the goal of total

automation.
STRATEGIC PLAN 2 PART I — INTRODUCTION

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Governmentwide Documentation

Authority

Title 5 U.S.C. 2951, Title 5 U.S.C. 7201(e) and Civil Service Rule 7.2 define OPM's

authority to prescribe agency documentation, recordkeeping, and reporting

procedures. Executive Order 12107 designates OPM as the owner of the Official

Personnel Folder (OPF) with authority to prescribe regulations relating to agency OPF

establishment and maintenance. Under these authorities, the Office of Workforce

Information (OWI) promulgates Governmentwide personnel action processing and

recordkeeping regulations and guidance. 

Personnel action processing refers to the documentation of an individual's

appointment to Federal employment, selected changes in employment status

or employee benefits, and separation from Federal employment. 

Recordkeeping refers to the requirement for filing and retention of personnel

action processing and related documents. 

OPM's personnel recordkeeping regulations are found at 5 CFR 293; procedural

instructions are found in two OPM Operating Manuals, THE GUIDE TO PROCESSING

PERSONNEL ACTIONS and THE GUIDE TO PERSONNEL RECORDKEEPING. 

History

Since the inception of the Federal bureaucracy, agencies have maintained personnel

files. The SF 50, Notification of Personnel Action was established in 1940 to provide a

standard for agencies to document appointments to, changes in, and separation from

Federal employment. The Official Personnel Folder (OPF) was established in 1947 to

provide a Governmentwide standard for filing and retaining the SF 50 and dozens of

other related standard forms. Among the related forms was the SF 52, Request for

Personnel Action which effected standard procedures for the agency to initiate and

record approvals of personnel actions. 
STRATEGIC PLAN 3 PART I — INTRODUCTION

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

Since 1947 the Official Personnel Folder (OPF) has evolved into a central depository

for variety of records that Office of Personnel Management (OPM) believes an agency

needs to conduct its personnel activities. These records may be categorized as: 

(1) records of personnel actions that comprise an employee's employment

history; 

(2) records that support the validity of an agency's personnel actions; 

(3) records of benefits coverage and rights; 

(4) records to support an agency's internal statistical information needs and

OPM statistical reporting requirements;

(5) records to provide a new employing agency with selected data on an

employee's prior Federal employment.

Size

An Official Personnel Folder may contain one or more of about 150 types of

documents. Documents may be single or multiple page, and may be on file in the OPF

just once for a unique event or multiple times for recurring events such as training. 

Additionally, one document, the SF 50, Notification of Personnel Action is filed in the

OPF to record any of about 125 events that may occur during an employee's career. A

"typical" OPF may contain 200 or more pages of documents. 

Documentation and Recordkeeping Resources

Agencies annually process about 14 million personnel action and related documents

that they retain in about 2.1 million active Official Personnel Folders (OPF). Another

approximately 80 million OPFs of former Federal employees are stored at the National

Personnel Records Center (NPRC), National Archives and Records Administration. 

Each year NPRC responds to 250 to 500 thousand requests for information from the

OPFs in their custody. 

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has about 750 pages of instructions on

documenting personnel actions and about 100 pages of instructions on filing personnel

documents in the OPF. Governmentwide, an estimated 13,000 personnel clerks and

assistants and about 2,000 personnel staffing specialists refer to OPM's personnel action

processing and recordkeeping instructions in the conduct of their work. 
STRATEGIC PLAN 4 PART I — INTRODUCTION

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

Documentation and Recordkeeping Stakeholders

In determining whether to establish, rescind, or revise personnel recordkeeping

regulations and documentation procedures, the Office of Personnel Management

(OPM) carefully considers the expressed information needs, policies, regulations,

guidance, and desires of users of the recordkeeping and documentation process. 

These include agencies that carry out recordkeeping and documentation requirements,

as well as employees and their representatives. OPM also pays heed to other

institutions such as the National Partnership Council and the National Archives and

Records Administration. OPM will coordinate all proposed changes as appropriate

with these stakeholders. 
STRATEGIC PLAN 5 PART II — THE PROPOSAL

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

PART II — THE PROPOSAL

Our goal is to facilitate the application of modern automated technologies to personnel

documentation and recordkeeping. This Strategic Plan represents a structured

approach toward that goal. Its focus is on Office of Personnel Management's (OPM’s)

role in setting Governmentwide requirements and policies. These policies should

encourage appropriate use of automated technologies while assuring that all legal

documentation requirements are met; the Government’s management information

needs are fulfilled; and the security and privacy of employees’ records are maintained. 

The specific steps toward the goal are defined in the Plan as a series of projects. The

projects are designed to allow relatively short-term accomplishment of particular

outcomes that move toward the long-term goal. The intended results of each project

and the Plan are to ensure maximum efficiency in personnel documentation and

recordkeeping. Efficiency is measured not just in terms of reduced overall cost but

also in qualitatively improved service to the Federal community.

Agencies differ in their missions, organizational structures, resources, and

management styles; consequently, their pace of implementing personnel processing

modernization will differ. Full exploitation of automated documentation and

recordkeeping technology requires significant investment in equipment, software, staff,

retraining, and time. This Plan is designed to create a policy framework for agencies

as they make the required investment.

 

The goal is a long-term goal, to be achieved over a period of years, not months. There

are difficult technical and management issues to be resolved. Human resource

management programs will continue to change and personnel documentation and

recordkeeping requirements must change with them. This Plan must be an action

document. It will be revised over time to reflect the impacts of technological advances,

human resource management policy changes, and the outcomes of the Plan’s

completed projects. 

Projects in this Plan are presented in numeric order for convenience. Projects that

must be completed before others may begin are presented in that order and their

interconnected nature is identified in the discussion of the project. The presentation

order is not strictly chronological since some projects may be undertaken concurrently. 

Specific beginnings and endings for the projects will be determined after further

development and consultation with stakeholders. 
STRATEGIC PLAN 6 PART III — PROJECTS

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

PART III — PROJECTS

1. Unnecessary Official Personnel Folder (OPF) Filing Requirements

Current Situation

The GUIDE TO PERSONNEL RECORDKEEPING requires that about 150 types of

documents be filed in the Official Personnel Folder. Many of these requirements had

not been reviewed for a number of years despite changes in personnel laws,

regulations, and the personnel office operating environment. 

Discussion

In the summer and fall of 1995, an Office of Personnel Management (OPM) work group

reviewed all of the Official Personnel Folder (OPF) filing requirements. Each

requirement was reviewed to determine if its inclusion in the OPF was still necessary,

i.e., that it still served to document an employee's work history with information that

would be relevant throughout that employee's Federal career. The work group

identified 29 documents or types of records which did not meet the criteria for

continued retention in the OPF. The work group's recommendations were approved by

all of OPM's Associate Directors. 

Expected Outcome

In March 1996 the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) revised THE GUIDE TO

PERSONNEL RECORDKEEPING to delete requirements for filing in the Official

Personnel Folder (OPF) the documents the work group identified as no longer

necessary. Full implementation of the changes was required by December 31, 1996. 

The revisions should reduce the number of documents filed by agency personnel

clerks by about 35 percent. Smaller-scale reviews of OPF filing requirements will be

an ongoing process. 
STRATEGIC PLAN 7 PART III — PROJECTS

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

2. Flexibility in Processing Requests for Personnel Actions

Current Situation

We presently require that agencies initiate most of their personnel actions on Standard

Form (SF) 52, Request for Personnel Action. The SF 52 standardizes the format, data

element content, and medium for recording authorizations of personnel actions. The

processing requirements are designed for a manual processing environment and are

based on an assumption the Government benefits from maintenance of a standardized

processing system. 

Discussion

For many and perhaps all agencies, the manual personnel action processing

environment no longer exists. Additionally, the Office of Personnel Management

(OPM) has given agencies more flexibility in exercising personnel authority. This

direction calls into question the assumption that there is an inherent benefit in requiring

a standardized processing system. Any standardization must demonstrate "added

value." This project will review the need for a standardized personnel action request

process. 

Expected Outcome

We expect to revise the Governmentwide requirements for the personnel action

request process to focus on the basic requirements of such a system but leave to

agency discretion the specific forms used to initiate personnel actions. We will, of

course, continue to require that agencies comply with personnel action authorization

requirements in Office of Personnel Management's (OPM’s) regulations (e.g. 5 CFR

575.302 which requires that an agency head approve retention allowances). The focus

will be on what must be done, not on how it must be done. Such matters will be left to

the discretion of the agencies subject to any Governmentwide processing or format

standards that might be developed in coordination with stakeholders. 
STRATEGIC PLAN 8 PART III — PROJECTS

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

3. Redefinition of Official Personnel Actions

Current Situation

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) defines official personnel actions in THE

GUIDE TO PROCESSING PERSONNEL ACTIONS. We currently identify about 125

different employment events as official personnel actions and require that agencies

prepare an Standard Form (SF) 50 or equivalent documentation whenever each event

occurs. Each of these employment events must be documented as a permanent part

of the employee’s Official Personnel Folder. 

Discussion

We think that our current definition of employment events as official personnel actions

may be too broad. Some of the events do not appear to be part of the employee’s

history that have long-term consequences for his/her employment but rather are

serving internal reporting systems needs. These include providing a method to collect

data for agency internal use or for reporting to Office of Personnel Management’s

(OPM's) Central Personnel Data File. While the need for the data may continue, the

use of the official personnel action as the means for collecting these data may not. 

This project will review the definition of events that are official personnel actions. The

focus will be on documenting only events that have a long-term impact on the

employment history and that are not documented on other forms. 

Expected Outcome

 

We will reconfirm the events that are defined as official personnel actions. 
STRATEGIC PLAN 9 PART III — PROJECTS

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

4. Approval of Agency Conversion of Official Personnel Folder (OPF) Content to

non-Paper Mediums for Internal Use

Current Situation

We require that agencies obtain prior Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

approval before converting any Official Personnel Folder (OPF) records from paper to

digitized, microform or imaged formats. Upon approval and with some exceptions,

agencies may discontinue storage of paper forms in their internal systems. The

exceptions pertain to selected documents such as life insurance beneficiary forms that

contain original signatures. These documents must be retained on paper. They may

be converted to an electronic medium for agency use, but the agency must continue to

produce and store the paper forms. 

Discussion

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the National Institute of

Standards and Technology (NIST) and other Federal Government agencies

promulgate standards for the storage of records and data on digitized, imaged,

microform, and paper mediums. This project would reevaluate the need for the Office

of Personnel Management’s (OPM’s) prior approval of agency internal data storage

and retrieval systems. We will evaluate the effectiveness of the prior approval

requirement in meeting our concern that the information be available to make

employee rights and benefits determinations based on a Federal career that may span

employment in more than one agency. 

Expected Outcome

We would issue a policy statement that defines the requirements agencies must meet

to store Official Personnel Folders (OPFs) in an alternative storage medium for

internal use. Until other steps are taken to assure interagency transferability of OPF

data in alternative mediums, we expect we would continue to require that agencies

produce paper records from the alternative medium when an employee separates and

also upon demand. We would expect also that agencies comply with the National

Archives and Records Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology

and other applicable Government records storage standards and would continue to

retain on paper those documents the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

specifies for such retention. 
STRATEGIC PLAN 10 PART III — PROJECTS

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

5. Standard Form (SF) 50, Notification of Personnel Action 

Three proposed projects would deal with the uses of, remarks recorded on, and

substitutes for Standard Forms (SFs) 50. 

a. Alternatives to the Standard Form 50 for Informing Employees of

Personnel Actions

Current Situation

We require that agencies use the Standard Form 50, Notification of Personnel Action to

notify employees of personnel actions. We allow other forms of employee notice (list

forms, earnings statements) in limited situations. 

Discussion

Some agencies contend that the cost of printing and distributing employee copies of

Standard Form 50 is prohibitive; that the distribution system causes the forms to reach

employees too late to be informative for certain actions; or that individualized letters

would be more meaningful than a form. They wish to notify employees of selected

personnel actions such as pay increases, step increases, and promotions on

documents such as earnings statements that are distributed routinely each pay period. 

Other agencies suggest using routine notices such as earning statements to alert the

employees of changes and letting employees view their records by accessing

automated personnel data files. 

Expected Outcome

We will redefine our policy on mandatory use of the Standard Form 50 as the sole

method of notifying employees of personnel actions. We may delegate to agencies

more flexibility to determine how they notify employees of selected personnel actions. 

We expect the delegations would include minimum requirements on the content of the

notifications, continued production of documentation for the Official Personnel Folder

(OPF), and reminders of the role of employee organizations in selecting appropriate

notification procedures. 
STRATEGIC PLAN 11 PART III — PROJECTS

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

5. Standard Form (SF) 50, Notification of Personnel Action 

b. Reducing the Number of Standard Form 50 Remarks

Current Situation

We now prescribe about 500 remarks from which an agency must select one or more,

as applicable, for entry on a given personnel action. In some situations, a single

personnel action may require several remarks occupying many lines of text. Some

remarks are informational; others contain data that must be preserved as part of the

employment history. 

Discussion

Some agencies wish to substitute a summary record for the individual Standard Forms

(SF) 50 filed in Official Personnel Folders (OPFs). Because of the volume of remarks

text, the efficiency of such a summary statement may be defeated (i.e., a summary

might occupy as much space as the several SFs 50 it replaces). This project would

identify remarks that are transitory or informational and those that contain permanent

information. As agencies test the use of summary records in lieu of individual SFs 50

for OPF documentation, the tests may be designed to include the permanent remark

information only.

Expected Outcome

We will identify remarks that are no longer necessary, those with information of

permanent value that must be stored in the Official Personnel Folder (OPF) and those

that must be included in employee notices but may not be required in OPF

documentation. 
STRATEGIC PLAN 12 PART III — PROJECTS

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

5. Standard Form (SF) 50, Notification of Personnel Action 

c. Personnel Action History Transcripts in Lieu of Standard Forms 50

Current Situation

We require that agencies use individual Standard Forms (SF) 50 to document each

personnel action. Each SF 50 must be filed in the employee’s Official Personnel

Folder (OPF). 

Discussion

Agencies are concerned about the cost of printing and filing a separate Standard Form

(SF) 50 for each personnel action. The practice seems particularly costly when only

one or a few items on the SF 50 are changed. Some question whether a summary

statement, which we refer to as a "personnel action transcript of service," will meet the

information need at a reduced cost. 

Expected Outcome

We will review our policy of requiring individual Standard Forms 50 as Official

Personnel Folder documentation of each personnel action. If we determine that a

personnel action transcript of service is an acceptable substitute for specific personnel

actions, we will allow optional use of a transcript. We will prescribe the format

(content, coding, structure) and require that agencies be able to provide the transcript

on paper. 
STRATEGIC PLAN 13 PART III — PROJECTS

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

6. Electronic Transfer of Preliminary Employment Information

Current Situation

When an office is hiring someone from another Federal agency or office and does not

have the applicant's Official Personnel Folder (OPF), they may gather basic

information to process the appointment from the losing office. Personnel offices use

the Standard Form (SF) 75, Preliminary Employment Data to verify key information and

obtain data required to process the appointment in their internal personnel processing

systems. Personnel offices can request information by phone or by mail; the

information may be taken from the OPF or from other agency files such as security,

adverse action, and payroll files. 

Discussion

Some agencies have expressed an interest in receiving preliminary employment

information in an electronic format to save rekeying data into their personnel

processing systems. Use of electronic transfers would be an additional option for

those offices able to create and accept such information. This project would define a

process for electronic transfer of preliminary employment information among personnel

offices. The process may specify the content and format of electronic transfers or may

decide to allow the content to be negotiated between offices on an ad-hoc basis. The

process must set Governmentwide security requirements for electronic transfers. 

Expected Outcome

We will publish standards for electronic transfer of preliminary employment information. 

Lessons learned from experience with these smaller scale transfers will form a basis

for potential electronic transfer of more complete personnel information, i.e. an

electronic Official Personnel Folder (OPF). 
STRATEGIC PLAN 14 PART III — PROJECTS

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

7. Documents With Original Written Signatures

Current Situation

We require that a number of documents such as life insurance beneficiary forms be

retained in a paper medium because they have written original signatures. Agencies

that convert the content of such documents to a non-paper medium such as microfiche

must continue to maintain concurrently the original paper. 

Discussion

The requirements for written signatures on original documents are required by law or

by the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM's) interpretation and implementation of

such law. OPM program offices and interagency groups have been working on

processes that will reduce the number of such documents (e.g., electronic processing

of health benefits changes). Technical, legal, and administrative issues relating to the

use of digital signatures are being explored by groups in the public and private sector. 

Decisions on the acceptability of electronic in lieu of paper records will impact on

Official Personnel Folder recordkeeping requirements.

Expected Outcome

Incorporate program decisions to accept in an electronic medium the records now

requiring an original written signature. This outcome would expand on the use of

alternative mediums for storing Official Personnel Folders.
STRATEGIC PLAN 15 PART III — PROJECTS

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

8. Filing of Benefit Documents

Current Situation

"Benefit" documents show that an employee is eligible for, elected or declined such

benefits as health or life insurance coverage. Benefit documents are a large

percentage of the types of documents filed in an employee’s Official Personnel Folder

(OPF). 

Discussion

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is presently working toward

modernization of its retirement systems, both Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS)

and Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS). The modular components of this

modernization effort will provide the data necessary to process retirement claims. 

Other automated systems allow electronic processing of benefits, such as health

benefits elections. As the retirement systems modernization effort moves forward,

OPM will work with agencies to find the most appropriate methods of collecting and

conveying benefit documents. Inclusion of such documents in a paper Official

Personnel Folder will be one but not the only option considered.

Expected Outcome

Requirements for filing benefits documents in the Official Personnel Folder (OPF) will

be reviewed and revised as the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proceeds with

the retirement systems modernization effort and approves other electronic means of

creating and storing benefits information.
STRATEGIC PLAN 16 PART III — PROJECTS

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

9. Official Personnel Folder (OPF) Personnel Data Element Standardization

Current Situation

We require many documents, in addition to the Standard Forms (SFs) 50, be filed in an

Official Personnel Folder (OPF). These documents record employment history and

employee rights and benefits. 

Discussion

Agencies wish to digitize data on forms and documents other than Standard Forms

(SFs) 50 and to store the data independently of the format. They believe "digitization"

will improve the efficiency of their personnel operations. Efforts to digitize personnel

information could also be part of earlier projects like creation of the personnel action

history transcript and use of automated systems for employee benefits.

Data may be represented as agencies wish as long as the data is used internally. If

Official Personnel Folder (OPF) information is to be transferred among agencies, there

must be standard data element definitions (name, size, code meanings). Current

interagency personnel data standards are defined in the Office of Personnel

Management’s (OPM's) Operating Manual, THE GUIDE TO PERSONNEL DATA

STANDARDS. Expansion of data transfer will require data standardization for

information that does not appear in the GUIDE but is part of the OPF. This project

would define such standards.

Expected Outcome

We will prescribe data element standards for interagency transfer of the data agencies

must include in the Official Personnel Folder (OPF). 
STRATEGIC PLAN 17 PART III — PROJECTS

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

10. Official Personnel Folder (OPF) Transcript of Service

Current Situation

The Personnel Action History Transcripts in Lieu of Standard Forms (SFs) 50

describes a proposal to allow agencies the option to substitute a summary statement in

lieu of individual SFs 50 for personnel actions. The Official Personnel Folder (OPF)

Personnel Data Element Standardization describes a proposal to define standard data

elements for information in individual OPF documents.

Discussion

Taken together the project outcome products listed above comprise the complete

Official Personnel Folder (OPF) content. A standard format for these OPF data should

provide a reliable substitute for most, if not all, of the individual documents in the OPF

itself. This project would bring all of those items together as a redefined OPF. In this

project, we would define the format for a complete service history, including items from

Standard Forms (SFs) 50 and other forms in a single "transcript." 

Expected Outcome

We expect the redefined Official Personnel Folder (OPF) will focus on storing

information rather than forms. The information will be transferred in an easily

understood format, using Governmentwide standards and procedures. The redefined

OPF will be equivalent to "an OPF transcript of service" that is a summary of relevant

employment history. The "OPF transcript of service" would subsume the "personnel

action transcript of service." 
STRATEGIC PLAN 18 PART III — PROJECTS

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

11. Merged Records Personnel Folder (MRPF)

Current Situation

Merged Records Personnel Folders (MRPFs) are folders that contain records

established and maintained both outside and within the Office of Personnel

Management’s (OPM's) recordkeeping authority. For example, Department of

Veterans’s Affairs (VA) medical personnel are hired under 38 U.S.C. and records of

that employment are kept under VA’s recordkeeping authority. If that person is

subsequently employed in the competitive civil service, records of that employment are

merged with the VA records in one physical folder, the MRPF. Such MRPFs are

owned jointly by OPM and one or more other agencies. In the example, although all

the records are physically together, the VA employment records continue to belong to

VA while the competitive service records belong to OPM. Only VA can release,

amend, or authorize alternative storage requirements for the VA records in the MRPF. 

Discussion

To comply with access requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, the Office of

Personnel Management (OPM) has negotiated "access and disposition"

memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with more than 20 agencies that share

Merged Records Personnel Folder (MRPF) ownership with us. Agency compliance

with these MOUs frequently is weak because of the complexity of the agreements, the

infrequency with which personnel offices encounter joint file ownerships and the

difficulty in recognizing that a joint ownership situation exists. Storage of Official

Personnel Folder (OPF) data in a non-paper medium, may further complicate the jointownership agreements. This project will define ways in which the various employment

records or information can be combined while eliminating the problems inherent in joint

OPF ownership.

Expected Outcome

We expect that we will accept and provide Official Personnel Folder (OPF) transcripts

of service on paper or in an electronic medium in place of the OPFs we now provide

and accept for employees who move between the Office of Personnel Management’s

(OPM’s) and other agencies’ records systems. The information documenting all

periods of Federal employment will then be integrated into a system “owned” by a

single agency. 
STRATEGIC PLAN 19 PART III — PROJECTS

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

12. Submission of Electronic Official Personnel Folders (OPFs) to the National 

 Personnel Records Center

Current Situation

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), National Personnel Records

Center (NPRC) is the repository for the paper Official Personnel Folders (OPF) of 80

million former Federal employees. When an employee leaves Federal service, his/her

OPF is sent to NPRC. If the person is rehired in Federal service, the new employer

retrieves the OPF from NPRC and adds new records to the existing OPF.

Discussion

We do not foresee any effort to convert the 80 million paper Official Personnel Folders

(OPFs) in storage at National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) to an electronic

medium. Upon completion of the prior projects, agencies should have the capability to

produce an employment history as standardized, digitized data. At this stage, we

would coordinate with agencies and National Archives and Records Administration

(NARA) the most appropriate methodology for agency submission of these data to

NPRC. 

Expected Outcome

We will work with National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to issue a

standard for submission of Official Personnel Folder (OPF) data to National Personnel

Records Center (NPRC) in an electronic medium. 
STRATEGIC PLAN 20 PART III — PROJECTS

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

13. Capability to Generate Paper

Current Situation

In the project, Approval of Agency Conversion of Official Personnel Folder (OPF)

Content to non-Paper Mediums, we anticipated allowing agencies to convert paper

OPFs to another storage medium for internal use, but required they produce paper

OPFs when transferring the OPF to another Federal agency or National Personnel

Records Center (NPRC). The Personnel Action History Transcripts in Lieu of

Standard Forms (SFs) 50, and OPF Transcript of Service projects, we anticipated

allowing agencies to produce personnel action transcripts and later OPF transcripts,

but again with the requirement to provide outputs on paper. 

Discussion

We anticipate that all agencies will have at sometime the capability to handle records

in a non-paper medium. The Official Personnel Folder (OPF) data element

standardization project and the project to define standards for electronic OPF

submissions to the National Personnel Records Center will establish Governmentwide

requirements for interagency transfer of OPF information in a non-paper medium. 

Expected Outcome

When the preconditions described above are met, we expect to rescind the

requirement for the interagency transfer of paper Official Personnel Folders (OPFs). 

Agencies will transfer most records in alternative mediums using standard formats. 
STRATEGIC PLAN 21 PART IV — COMPLETION

U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 1996

PART IV — COMPLETION

Upon completion of the projects described in this Strategic Plan, the paper Official

Personnel Folder (OPF) as we know it today will not exist.

The "new" OPF will not be a folder, but rather a collection of information using standard

data elements that describe an employment history and support determinations of

employee rights and benefits. Agencies will process and maintain the employment

history data in a manner and format of agency choosing, but in compliance with Office

of Personnel Management (OPM) standards for interagency data transfer.