Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 64345 

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL 

MANAGEMENT (OPM) 

Statement of Regulatory Priorities 

The Office of Personnel 

Management’s mission is to ensure the 

Federal Government has an effective 

civilian workforce. OPM fulfills that 

mission by, among other things, 

providing human capital advice and 

leadership for the President and Federal 

agencies; delivering human resources 

policies, products, and services; and 

holding agencies accountable for their 

human capital practices. OPM’s 2009 

regulatory priorities are designed to 

support these activities. 

Adverse Actions 

OPM proposes to amend its 

regulations governing Federal adverse 

actions. The proposed amendments 

would clarify the adverse action rules 

regarding reductions in pay and 

indefinite suspension. In addition, OPM 

proposes to remove unnecessary 

subparts pertaining to statutory 

requirements, make a number of 

technical corrections, and utilize 

consistent language for similar 

regulatory requirements. OPM also 

proposes various revisions to make the 

regulations more readable. 

Pay and Leave Flexibilities in 

Emergency Situations 

OPM will continue efforts to improve 

Federal pay and leave flexibilities 

available in emergency situations. 

Drawing on experiences and lessons 

learned in past emergency situations, 

OPM anticipates issuing proposed 

regulations to reorganize and clarify the 

administration of advance payments, 

evacuation payments, and special 

allowances. 

OPM also anticipates issuing final 

regulations to entitle an employee to use 

sick leave to provide care for a family 

member when the relevant health 

authorities or a health care provider 

have determined that the family 

member’s presence in the community 

would jeopardize the health of others 

because of the family member’s 

exposure to a communicable disease. 

We anticipate a proposal to permit 

agencies to advance a maximum of 240 

hours (30 days) of sick leave to an 

employee if the employee’s presence on 

the job would jeopardize the health of 

others because of exposure to a 

communicable disease, and to advance 

a maximum of 104 hours (13 days) of 

sick leave to an employee to provide 

care for a family member who would 

jeopardize the health of others by that 

family member’s presence in the 

community because of exposure to a 

communicable disease. 

Benefits for Reservists and their Family 

Members 

OPM will continue to enhance 

benefits and support work-life balance 

for Federal employees whose family 

members are serving on active duty. 

OPM anticipates issuing final 

regulations to implement section 585(b) 

of the National Defense Authorization 

Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (NDAA) (Public 

Law 110-181, January 28, 2008) that 

amends the Family and Medical Leave 

Act (FMLA) provisions in 5 U.S.C. 6381- 

6383 (applicable to Federal employees) 

to provide that a Federal employee who 

is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or 

next of kin of a covered servicemember 

with a serious injury or illness is 

entitled to a total of 26 administrative 

workweeks of leave during a single 12- 

month period to care for the covered 

servicemember. The covered 

servicemember must be a current 

member of the Armed Forces, including 

a member of the National Guard or 

Reserves, who has a serious injury or 

illness incurred in the line of duty on 

active duty for which he or she is 

undergoing medical treatment, 

recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise in 

outpatient status, or is otherwise on the 

temporary disability retired list. The 

regulations would also permit an 

employee to substitute annual or sick 

leave, including advanced annual or 

sick leave, for any part of the 26-week 

period of unpaid FMLA leave to care for 

a covered servicemember. 

OPM will also continue to support 

Federal civilian employees called to 

active duty to further serve our Nation. 

OPM anticipates issuing proposed 

regulations to implement statutory 

changes that provide a new benefit to 

Federal civilian employees who are 

members of the Reserve or National 

Guard and who are called or ordered to 

active duty. Section 751 of the Omnibus 

Appropriations Act, 2009 (Public Law 

111-8, March 11, 2009) established a 

new provision in 5 U.S.C. 5538 that 

became effective on March 15, 2009. 

Under this new law, eligible Federal 

civilian employees called to active duty 

may receive a reservist differential. The 

reservist differential is equal to the 

amount by which an employee’s 

projected civilian ‘‘basic pay’’ for a 

covered pay period exceeds the 

employee’s actual military ‘‘pay and 

allowances’’ allocable to that pay 

period. While each employing civilian 

agency is responsible for making these 

payments, OPM, in consultation with 

the Department of Defense, is required 

to issue regulations to implement the 

new benefit. 

Benefits for a Diverse Workforce 

OPM will continue to encourage the 

recruitment and retention of a diverse 

workforce. OPM anticipates issuing 

final regulations to modify definitions 

related to family member and 

immediate relative for purposes of use 

of sick leave, funeral leave, voluntary 

leave transfer, voluntary leave bank, and 

emergency leave transfer. These changes 

would implement section 1 of President 

Obama’s June 17, 2009, Memorandum 

on Federal Benefits and NonDiscrimination and ensure that agencies 

are considering the needs of a widely 

diverse workforce and providing the 

broadest support possible to employees 

to help them balance their increasing 

work, personal, and family obligations. 

As part of OPM’s continued efforts to 

support the needs of the Federal 

workforce during times of sickness, 

funerals, and medical or other 

emergencies, we are proposing to make 

the definitions of family member and 

immediate relative more explicit to 

include more examples of relationships 

that are covered under the phrase ‘‘[a]ny 

individual related by blood or affinity’’ 

whose close association with the 

employee is the equivalent of a family 

relationship. These examples include 

step-parents and step-children, 

grandparents, grandchildren, and samesex and opposite-sex domestic partners. 

By making these definitions more 

explicit, we would ensure more 

consistent application of policy across 

the Federal Government and set an 

example of the Federal Government as 

a model employer of a diverse 

workforce. 

Federal Employees Health Benefits 

Program (FEHB) 

OPM is amending its regulations to 

provide for continuation of health 

benefits coverage for certain former 

Senate restaurant employees who were 

transferred to employment with a 

private contractor. We are also 

proposing to change the annual FEHB 

Program Open Season to November 1 

through November 30 of each year. We 

are also adding a new opportunity for 

eligible employees to enroll or change 

enrollment from self only to self and 

family under the Children’s Health 

Insurance Program Reauthorization Act 

of 2009. We are also changing the 

regulations to allow FEHB plans to offer 

three options, one of which may be a 

high deductible health plan. 


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64346 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 233 / Monday, December 7, 2009 / The Regulatory Plan 

Federal Employees Dental and Vision 

Insurance Program (FEDVIP) 

OPM is issuing final regulations on 

changes in the Federal Employees 

Dental and Vision Insurance Program 

(FEDVIP). We are amending the 

regulations to authorize retroactive 

enrollment changes when an enrollee 

has lost their spouse through death or 

divorce or their last eligible child 

marries or reaches age 22. 

Federal Employees Group Life Insurance 

(FEGLI) 

OPM is amending its Federal 

Employees Group Life Insurance 

(FEGLI) regulations to provide for new 

election opportunities for certain 

civilian and Defense Department 

employees deployed in support of a 

contingency operation required by 

Public Law 110-417; provide for the 

continuation of coverage opportunities 

for Federal employees called to active 

duty required by Public Law 110-181; 

and update the regulations with other 

changes, clarifications, and corrections. 

Federal Long Term Care Insurance 

Program (FLTCIP) 

OPM is issuing a proposed regulation 

to amend regulations pertaining to the 

Federal Long Term Care Insurance 

Program (FLTCIP). This proposed 

regulation expands coverage eligibility 

to domestic partners of eligible Federal 

employees and annuitants. 

Training; Supervisory, Management, 

Executive Development 

On October 30, 2004, the President 

signed the Federal Workforce Flexibility 

Act of 2004 (Act), Public Law 108-411, 

into law. The Act makes several 

significant changes in the law governing 

the training and development of Federal 

employees, supervisors, managers, and 

executives. It requires each agency to 

evaluate, on a regular basis, its training 

programs and plans to ensure that its 

training activities are linked to the 

accomplishment of its specific 

performance plans and strategic goals, 

and to modify its training plans and 

programs as needed to accomplish the 

agency’s performance and strategic 

goals. Another change requires agencies 

to work with OPM to establish 

comprehensive management succession 

programs designed to develop future 

mangers for the agency. It also requires 

agencies, in consultation with OPM, to 

establish programs to provide training to 

managers regarding how to relate to 

employees with unacceptable 

performance, mentor employees, use 

various actions, options and strategies to 

improve employee performance and 

productivity, and conduct employee 

performance appraisals. Our proposed 

revision to the OPM regulations at Parts 

410 and 412 of 5 CFR have been 

designed to address the changes, and in 

general to increase the emphasis on 

employee and executive development in 

the Federal Government. The proposed 

regulations were published for public 

comments. OPM expects publication of 

final regulations by the end of 2009. 

Pay System for Senior Professionals 

(SL/ST) 

OPM proposes to amend rules for 

setting and adjusting pay of senior-level 

(SL) and scientific and professional (ST) 

employees. The Senior Professional 

Performance Act of 2008 changed pay 

for these employees by eliminating their 

previous entitlement to locality pay and 

providing instead for rates of basic pay 

up to the rate payable for level III of the 

Executive Schedule (EX-III), or, if the 

employee is under a certified 

performance appraisal system, the rate 

payable for level II of the Executive 

Schedule (EX-II). Consistent with this 

statutory emphasis on performancebased pay, these regulations will 

provide more flexible rules for agencies 

to set and adjust pay for SL and ST 

employees based primarily upon 

individual performance, contribution to 

the agency’s performance, or both, as 

determined under a rigorous 

performance appraisal system. 

Job Announcement and Applicant 

Notification 

OPM is proposing to amend the 

regulations concerning the content of a 

job announcement. We are also 

proposing to add regulations to require 

Federal agencies to notify applicants at 

four points in the hiring process; to 

require agencies to use alternative valid 

assessment tools, excluding lengthy 

written essays or narratives of 

knowledge, skills, and 

abilities/competencies, and to require 

agencies to accept cover letters and 

re ́sume ́s as the initial application for a 

Federal job. With these changes, OPM 

plans to streamline the Federal hiring 

process and improve an applicant’s 

experience. 

BILLING CODE 6325–44–S 


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