Three Doors: The Only Ways Your Rating of Record Can Change After It Is Issued

Your rating of record cannot be quietly changed after it is issued. Under the performance appraisal rule that took effect on August 6, 2026, there are exactly three ways a rating of record can be changed after issuance — and one of those three doors belongs to you, for sixty days. Most federal employees have never been told this, which is precisely why the sixty days tends to run out unused.

The Rule, and Where to Find It

The provision is 5 C.F.R. § 430.208(i), as revised by OPM’s final rule on performance appraisal for General Schedule, prevailing rate, and certain other employees, published at 91 FR 41521 on July 7, 2026 and effective August 6, 2026.

Under that paragraph, a rating of record may be changed after issuance only:

• Within 60 days of issuance, based upon an informal request by the employee;
• As a result of a grievance, complaint, or other formal proceeding that results in a final determination by an appropriate authority that the rating must be changed, or as part of a bona fide settlement; or
• Where the agency determines that the rating of record was incorrectly recorded or incorrectly calculated.

Read that third one carefully. Recorded or calculated. It is a narrow lane for clerical and arithmetic error. It is not a lane for a supervisor who changed their mind.

Door One Is Yours — and It Closes

The first path is the one worth knowing cold, because it is the only one you control and the only one that runs on a clock you can miss.

Sixty days from issuance. Not sixty days from when you got around to being upset about it. Not sixty days from the acknowledgment meeting you kept rescheduling. The request is informal and is made under your agency’s own policy, so the first practical step is finding out what that policy actually requires — who it goes to, and in what form.

An End to Grieving Your Rating

The same rulemaking closes off a route that many bargaining-unit employees have relied on: a rating of record may no longer be challenged through negotiated grievance procedures or arbitration. OPM concluded this fell within its statutory authority. Existing collective bargaining agreements that provide grievance rights over ratings may continue until their terms expire, so the practical answer for any given employee depends on the contract currently in force — a question worth putting to your union representative directly.

Other avenues remain open. A rating that is the product of discrimination or reprisal can still be raised through the EEO process. A rating used as the basis for an adverse action still carries the appeal rights attached to that action. And a prohibited personnel practice is still a prohibited personnel practice.

Why Ratings Carry More Weight Starting September 2

Here is the part that turns a paperwork question into a job-security question.

OPM’s final rule on reductions in force, published at 91 FR 49178 on August 3, 2026 and effective September 2, 2026, reorders the retention factors. Under the prior framework, performance sat last — it augmented length of service with additional service credit after tenure, veterans’ preference, and service length had done the sorting. Under the new rule, performance credit calculated from an employee’s three most recent ratings of record becomes the leading factor, with veterans’ preference augmentation, tenure subgroup, and length of service following.

The consequence is straightforward. A rating you shrugged at in the spring can become the number that decides where you stand on a retention register later. A rating is no longer just a rating.

Two Moves to Make

• Read the rating the day it is issued — not the week you are asked to acknowledge it. Check the summary level, the element ratings, and the arithmetic. Errors in recording and calculation are real, and they are the one thing the agency can fix on its own.
• If something is wrong, calendar the sixty days that afternoon. Then find your agency’s informal request procedure and use it in writing, so there is a date and a document.

And if your rating changed after issuance and nobody can tell you which of the three doors it came through, that is a fair question to ask in writing.

The Bottom Line

Deadlines in federal employment are rarely announced. They simply pass. Sixty days from issuance is now one of the most consequential of them, because the number on that form feeds directly into how you are ranked if a reduction in force reaches your competitive area.

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Legal Disclaimer: This content is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Federal employment situations are fact-specific and time-sensitive. Please consult a qualified federal employment attorney about your specific situation. You can contact Southworth PC at attorneysforfederalemployees.com.