You Earned the Rating. But Will You Get It? AFGE Sues Over OPM's Forced Distribution

It’s almost that time of year again: the annual performance review.

Federal employees are supposed to be evaluated on how well they performed against established, job-related standards. Our Master Agreement says it plainly: “Employees will be evaluated based on a comparison of performance with the standards established for the appraisal period.”

This year, the Office of Personnel Management changed the rules.

What OPM changed

Under OPM’s new system, agencies will use “standardized distributions” and a calibration process that can limit how many employees receive the highest ratings. And OPM says the new system applies to the current FY26 appraisal cycle, the one closing out now.

OPM’s own guidance offers an example. Eight employees in a unit are initially rated Level 5, Outstanding. Only two Level 5 ratings are available. A calibration process decides which two keep them.

Think about that. You can do Outstanding work, meet every standard for an Outstanding rating, and still be told there are too many Outstanding employees.

Ratings are not just a line on a form, either. They feed into awards, promotions, and your retention standing if there is ever a reduction in force.

Part of a bigger pattern

This is not happening in isolation. It is another front in this Administration’s sustained attack on federal employees and longstanding civil service protections.

And once again, VA Secretary Doug Collins has failed to show the leadership or the courage to stand up for his workforce. As protections for the employees who serve our nation’s Veterans are dismantled, Collins simply falls in line.

But that’s why we have a union.

AFGE is fighting back

On August 24, AFGE and other federal employee unions filed suit in federal court in the Northern District of California to block OPM’s new rules.

AFGE argues that forced distributions violate federal civil service law, which requires employees to be evaluated accurately against objective, job-related criteria. Not ranked against their coworkers.

The unions are asking the court to block the new rules. We will keep members posted as the case moves forward.

Local 17 is getting you ready

The performance year ends September 30. Whatever happens in court, a strong self-assessment can still make a difference.

Article 27 of the Master Agreement calls the employee self-assessment a “critical source of employee performance information” and says employee input is “essential to the appraisal process.” Under a system built to sort Outstanding employees against each other, the record you put in front of your rating official matters more than ever.

Local 17 President Doug Massey has recorded a video on exactly this. Watch it here:

For the step-by-step version, read our recent article, 7 Proven Ways to Write a Strong Federal Employee Self-Assessment. It covers writing to the exceptional standard, putting numbers behind your work, explaining factors outside your control, and what to do once your rating arrives.

If you believe your rating does not reflect the work you did, contact Local 17 promptly.

In solidarity,

Douglas E. Massey, Esq. President, AFGE Local 17, AFL-CIO

Related reading: For the fight over how Board attorneys’ work is measured, see Board Attorney Quotas Go National: What 311 Attorneys Told Us. For earlier concerns about changing standards, see Proposed Changes to Performance Standards: A Threat to Workforce Morale.