OPM Proposes Scrapping 70-Year Wait for Federal Promotions

WASHINGTON - The federal government's personnel agency on May 28 proposed eliminating a nearly 70-year-old rule that blocks many civil servants from receiving a promotion until they have logged at least one year in their current pay grade.

The Office of Personnel Management published the proposed rule in the Federal Register, targeting what it called an "outdated" requirement affecting General Schedule employees at GS-5 and above who compete for positions in the competitive service.

"Federal employees should be rewarded for what they can do, not how long they have waited," OPM Director Scott Kupor said in a statement Wednesday, according to a release posted on opm.gov.

In regulations published in the Federal Register Thursday, OPM said the time-in-grade requirement was an "outdated" effort to prevent rapid position inflation at federal agencies, as had occurred during World War II and the Korean War. Officials wrote that the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act and subsequent merit system principles had made the waiting period unnecessary.

The rule, known as the time-in-grade restriction, has been in place since the 1950s, instituting a 52-week waiting period during which federal employees must remain in their current positions before qualifying for a promotion to the next grade level. The underlying law that mandated such a period expired in 1978, leaving OPM to maintain the requirement by regulation.

Under the proposal, the 52-week wait would be removed entirely for competitive service GS positions. An employee would still have to meet occupational qualification standards and any additional job-related requirements for the target position, according to the notice reviewed by the Federal Register.

OPM also argued the current rule creates disparities within the federal workforce. The restriction does not apply to excepted service employees, to blue-collar workers hired under the Federal Wage System, or to GS employees below grade 5 - a gap the agency called inequitable.

Kupor added in a statement that the change "gives managers more flexibility to recognize high performers, and helps agencies move talented people into mission critical roles faster." The proposal is consistent with President Trump's Executive Order 14170 on reforming the federal hiring process, according to the OPM release.

The reform aligns with a broader set of personnel changes OPM has pursued in recent months. In March, the agency issued a separate proposal to prioritize employee performance over seniority in reduction-in-force retention registers. Both proposals reflect a philosophy Kupor has stated publicly: that federal personnel management has relied too heavily on tenure as a proxy for merit.

Previous attempts to remove time-in-grade restrictions were made during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations but did not succeed. In 2008, OPM issued a final rule eliminating the restrictions, then withdrew it a year later pending a broader review that was never completed.

The proposal would affect workers in competitive service GS positions at grade 5 and above - a category that encompasses the large majority of white-collar civilian federal employees. Fields including cybersecurity, acquisition, data science, and engineering could see faster advancement for high performers if the rule is finalized, according to analysis posted by FedSmith.

Public comments on the proposed rule are open until July 27, according to Government Executive.

Sources cited:
- OPM.gov press release (https://www.opm.gov/news/news-releases/opm-proposes-eliminating-outdated-time-in-grade-rule/)
- Government Executive (https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2026/05/opm-moves-allow-agencies-promote-workers-faster/413862/)
- Federal News Network (https://federalnewsnetwork.com/hiring-retention/2026/05/federal-employees-may-see-faster-path-to-promotions/)
- FedSmith (https://www.fedsmith.com/2026/05/27/eliminating-time-in-grade-rule-federal-workforce-impact/)
- FedWeek (https://www.fedweek.com/fedweek/opm-seeks-to-end-time-in-grade-limit-on-promotions-applying-to-some-federal-employees/)