OPM Finalizes Overhaul of Suitability and Fitness Policies

OPM dropped a proposed splitting of the factor of “knowing and willful engagement in acts or activities designed to overthrow the U.S. Government by force” into four separate factors. Image: Andrii Yalanskyi/Shutterstock.com

OPM has finalized a revised set of factors for agencies to use in “suitability” and “fitness” determinations, among other changes to policies affecting whether someone is eligible to become, or remain, a federal employee.

The notice finalizes rules proposed early in 2023 resulting from the “Trusted Workforce 2.0” review that started in 2018 following a series of executive orders dating back through administrations over the prior decade.

Suitability determinations, applying to competitive service and career SES positions, and fitness determinations, applying to excepted service positions, use similar but not identical factors for “decisions on whether an individual’s past conduct and actions may introduce risk to an agency’s mission or are contrary to the integrity required of individuals working for or on behalf of the government,” says a notice in the December 18 Federal Register. Generally, employing agencies make those determinations, although OPM has that authority if issues arise involving the most serious types of conduct.

Changes to factors for making those determinations include: clarifying that the one for “dishonest conduct” does not have to be criminal to be considered relevant; removing a requirement that evidence of rehabilitation be “substantial” after prior illegal drug use or excessive alcohol use that could affect the performance of official duties; and adding a factor for “violent conduct” that does not fall under any other factors.

However, in response to comments, OPM dropped a proposed splitting of the factor of “knowing and willful engagement in acts or activities designed to overthrow the U.S. Government by force” into four separate factors that would have more been more specific.

The rules further generally require agencies to honor assessments at the same or higher risk designation performed by another agency, rather than conducting their own investigations, for employees moving between agencies.

The rules also set standards for designating positions as potential low, moderate or high risk to national security for purposes of continuous vetting, which now formally replaces periodic reinvestigations of security clearance holders. Continuous vetting—checks of credit history, criminal records and more—applies to all levels of risk, with full reinvestigations to be conducted as needed.

“Key goals of the initiative are to capitalize on information technology capabilities that allow for the integration of automation and take advantage of a wider spectrum of data, reduce time-intensive manual processing, and promote greater mobility of the workforce by providing vetting processes that enable each individual’s vetting status to be continuously up to date,” it says.

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