February 1994

Life After the FPM

The sunset of significant parts of the Federal Personnel Manual (FPM) on December 31, 1993, heralds the sunrise of greater performance management flexibility for agencies. This is especially true for incentives and recognition programs, where the FPM guidance was extensive.

Most of the 10,000 page FPM was eliminated on December 31, 1993, with only essential parts provisionally retained until December 31, 1994. After that, the sunset of the FPM will be complete. Of course, this does not relieve agencies of the obligations mandated by law and regulation. The provisions of Executive orders, Comptroller General decisions, and court decisions still must be followed.

• Effects
• Flexibility

Effects. The effect of the sunset will differ for the planning and assessment aspects of the performance management system compared to its incentives and recognition aspects. The former remain highly regulated. Changes will wait until broader system reforms are put into place. Incentives and recognition are less regulated. Therefore, agencies have greater freedom to make changes now.

Flexibility. While some of the previous FPM guidance merely repeated the provisions of law and regulation, there are a number of areas where the elimination of FPM material will mean greater flexibility. For example, agencies are now free to structure suggestion programs in ways that suit their organizational cultures and goals. They are no longer bound by restrictive guidance on acceptability or processing of suggestions. For monetary awards in general, there is no longer an awards scale tying specific award amounts to specific intangible benefits.

Abolishment of the FPM does not mean that the guidance and suggestions it contained are no longer valid. Agencies may continue policies and programs based on them. But, more importantly, agencies may now change those policies and programs to better meet their needs.

In cases where FPM language has been incorporated into negotiated contract language, the contractual language will continue in effect. To determine the specific impact of the sunset provisions on bargaining obligations, inquiries should be directed to agency labor relations staff.