The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing to eliminate the federal “time-in-grade” requirement, a long-standing rule that can slow promotions and limit movement to higher-graded General Schedule (GS) positions, according to OPM News.
- What’s changing: OPM proposes removing the time-in-grade restriction that generally requires employees to spend a set period at a grade before moving to a higher grade.
- Who it affects: Current federal employees competing for promotions and other higher-graded placements under merit promotion procedures, and agencies filling GS positions.
- Why OPM says it matters: OPM News said the proposal is intended to modernize hiring and promotion practices and place more emphasis on qualifications and merit-based selection rather than tenure at a grade.
- Agency impact: If finalized, agencies could gain more flexibility to promote or place qualified employees faster, particularly when skills and experience support higher-level work.
- What doesn’t change: OPM’s proposal does not eliminate qualification standards or competitive procedures where required; agencies would still need to follow merit system principles and applicable hiring rules.
- Status: Proposed — not final. OPM News described the change as a regulatory update, meaning final implementation would depend on completion of the rulemaking process.
Time-in-grade has been a core feature of federal internal placement rules for decades, shaping how quickly employees can move up the GS ladder (for example, from one grade to the next in career-ladder roles) and how agencies manage promotions across organizations. Critics have long argued it can function as a rigid gate that slows mobility even when an employee already has the skills for higher-graded duties, while supporters have viewed it as a guardrail for consistent advancement.
OPM’s proposal would shift the focus toward whether applicants meet qualification requirements and can demonstrate they can perform at the higher grade, rather than whether they have spent a specific amount of time at their current grade. For employees, that could mean earlier eligibility for some higher-graded opportunities — but selection would still depend on how agencies rank and choose among candidates under merit promotion procedures.
For readers tracking how grade changes could affect pay over time, the most direct reference point is the GS pay schedule, including locality adjustments, available in the 2026 GS pay tables.
Source: OPM News