U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) serves as the chief human resources agency and personnel policy manager for the Federal Government. OPM provides human resources leadership and support to Federal agencies and helps the Federal workforce achieve their aspirations as they serve the American people. OPM directs human resources and workforce policy, administers retirement benefits, manages health insurance and other insurance benefit programs, and oversees merit-based and inclusive hiring into the civil service. The agency also promotes the efficiency and integrity of Government services through personnel vetting policies and processes for a trusted workforce.

Key Functions

Human Capital Management Leadership

OPM’s divisions and offices implement the programs and deliver the services that enable both OPM the agency to meet its strategic goals and enable other agencies to meet their respective strategic goals. OPM works in several broad categories to lead and serve the Federal Government in enterprise human resource management by delivering policies and services to achieve a trusted, effective civilian workforce, including Human Capital Management Leadership, Benefits, and Personnel Vetting.

Policy

The agency interprets and enforces governing law and provides policy direction and leadership in designing, developing, and promulgating Government-wide human capital systems, programs, and policies that support the current and emerging needs of Federal agencies. In addition, the agency provides technical support and guidance to agencies on the full range of human capital management policies and practices, including recruitment, hiring policy and classification, veterans’ employment, strategic workforce planning, pay, leave, performance management and recognition, leadership and employee development, diversity and inclusion, work/life/wellness programs, accountability, labor and employee relations, and the Administrative Law Judges Program. OPM’s leadership in these areas enables the Federal Government to anticipate drivers that will influence and impact the Federal workforce. OPM also reviews agency requests to exercise certain Government-wide personnel management authorities that are centrally administered or subject to OPM approval under law and oversees the implementation of key Administration priorities and goals concerning Government-wide human capital management matters.

Services

OPM provides customized human capital services and training to Federal agencies to help maximize their organizational and individual performance and to drive their mission results. Using the agency’s internal human capital experts, shared service providers within Government, and/or contractors, OPM’s Human Resources Solutions help agencies design effective organizations, recruit and hire top talent, develop and cultivate leaders, build Federal human resource professional capability, improve the performance management process, and achieve long-lasting human capital results.

OPM provides agencies with access to pre-competed private sector contractors through a unique partnership between OPM and GSA as part of the Government-wide Category Management effort. The private contractors, representing both large and small companies, complement OPM’s internal capabilities in the areas of training and development, human capital management, and organizational performance improvement. OPM’s involvement facilitates the delivery of services that are both effective and compliant with operative civil service law.

The agency provides a leadership development continuum that enables Federal executives, managers, and aspiring leaders to acquire knowledge and master skills so they can lead within a rapidly changing Government environment. Anchored by the Federal Executive Institute, OPM’s leadership development infrastructure and programs also include the Presidential Management Fellows Program, the Federal HR Institute, the Process and Performance Improvement program, the Lab at OPM (human-centered design), and USA Learning®.

OPM generates Government-wide benefits through human resources information technology consolidation, standardization, and modernization. OPM offers Federal systems such as Enterprise Human Resource Integration, USA Learning®, USA Staffing®, USA Hire℠, and USA Performance®. OPM is also developing the necessary information technology infrastructure to facilitate the exchange of human resources data and information Government-wide, as appropriate. In addition, OPM leads the Government-wide transformation of human resources information technology by focusing on modernization, integration, and performance assessment.

The agency manages USAJOBS®, the official job site of the Federal Government. It is the one-stop source for Federal jobs and employment information through which, among other things, Federal agencies meet the legal obligations to provide public notice of Federal employment opportunities to Federal employees and American citizens. The USAJOBS® website is the portal for Federal recruitment for most Government positions, whether the positions are in the competitive or excepted service.

Oversight

Through OPM’s oversight evaluation work, special studies, and collaboration with agencies, OPM assesses whether Federal human resources programs and human capital management systems are effective and consistent with merit system principles and related civil service requirements. OPM works directly with agencies to make improvements or changes to programs that are ineffective, inefficient, or not in compliance with Federal law to help them achieve mission objectives. OPM also adjudicates classification appeals, job grading appeals, Fair Labor Standards Act claims, compensation and leave claims, and declination of reasonable appeals, which provide Federal employees with procedural rights to challenge compensation and related agency decisions.

Benefits

Benefits for Federal Employees and Annuitants

OPM facilitates access to the high-caliber healthcare and insurance programs offered by the Federal Government and available to both active employees and annuitants. This includes health insurance, dental and vision insurance, life insurance, long-term care insurance, and flexible spending accounts. OPM manages insurance benefits for more than eight million Federal employees, retirees, and their families, employees of tribes or tribal organizations, and other eligible persons.

In 2019, OPM also began offering dental and vision plans to military retirees and their families, members of the Retired Reserve, non-active Medal of Honor recipients, and survivors and family members of active-duty service members.

These high-quality benefits make Federal employment more attractive, enabling agencies to compete for good candidates with other potential employers.

Retirement

OPM is responsible for the administration of the Civil Service Retirement System and the Federal Employees Retirement System covering 2.8 million active employees, including the United States Postal Service, and nearly 2.7 million annuitants, survivors, and family members. OPM also administers, develops, and provides Federal employees, retirees, and their families with benefits programs and services that offer choice, value, and quality to help maintain the Government’s position as a competitive employer. Activities include record maintenance and service credit accounts prior to retirement; initial eligibility determinations at retirement; adjudication of annuity benefits based on age and service, disability, or death, all based on a myriad of statutes and regulations; post-retirement changes due to numerous life events; health and life insurance enrollments; Federal and state tax deductions; as well as other payroll functions.

Personnel Vetting

The agency is responsible for prescribing suitability, fitness, and credentialing standards for Government employees and contractors. It works closely with the Director of National Intelligence to determine investigative standards. The agency issues guidelines and instructions to the heads of other agencies to promote uniformity and effectiveness when executing their delegated responsibilities, and OPM conducts oversight of agencies’ programs and processes in this area, including oversight of suitability and credentialing investigations. OPM retains jurisdiction of suitability adjudications in circumstances where a Government-wide bar of an individual from Federal service is necessary to promote efficiency and protect the integrity of the civil service. The agency also provides Government-wide training for adjudicators that conforms to Government-wide training standards.

History

On January 16, 1883, President Chester A. Arthur signed the Civil Service Act of 1883. The Act established OPM’s predecessor agency, the United States Civil Service Commission. Prior to 1883, Federal employment was largely based on political affiliation or personal connections, a system known as the “spoils system,” rather than applicants’ knowledge, skills, and abilities. The merit system ushered in a new era and created a competitive civil service, which emphasized an applicant’s relative level of qualifications for the position being sought, after fair and open competition. Theodore Roosevelt served as a Civil Service Commissioner from 1889-1895. His energetic and reform-minded outlook made him a strong proponent of the merit system as both Commissioner and later as U.S. President.

With the passage of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, the Civil Service Commission was abolished and reorganized into four new organizations: the Office of Personnel Management, the Merit Systems Protection Board (which included an office that would later become a fifth separate agency - the Office of Special Counsel), the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and the Office of Government Ethics. Each of these new organizations took over a portion of the Civil Service Commission’s responsibilities, with OPM responsible, among other things, for hiring and managing personnel management of the civil service.

Profile

OPM maintains its headquarters in the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Office Building at 1900 E Street, NW, Washington, D.C. The agency has field offices in 18 locations across the country, and operating centers in Pennsylvania and Georgia. OPM’s FY 2023 gross budget, including appropriated, mandatory administrative authorities, and revolving fund activities totaled more than $1.2 billion. In FY 2023, the agency had 2,680.5 full-time equivalent employees. OPM’s discretionary budget, excluding the Office of the Inspector General, was $385,708,000.

For more information about OPM, please refer to the agency’s website, www.opm.gov.