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Data, Analysis & Documentation Personnel Documentation

 

Overview

Our Agency issues Governmentwide guidance on documenting individuals' Federal employment. OPM and the agency human resources offices use these documents to make decisions about employees' rights and benefits throughout their careers. Here you'll find instructions for Federal agencies' human resources offices on preparing personnel actions and keeping the Official Personnel Folder.

Guide to Processing Personnel Actions

The Guide available on this site is the most current. The Guide to Processing Personnel Actions was last revised January 2013. This document contains information on how to prepare personnel actions, Standard Forms 52 and 50.

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The most recent Updates reflecting changes to pages in the Guide are reflected below. Updates, recent or otherwise, are archived. Collectively, Updates are already included within the Guide available on this site.

Updates to the Guide to Processing Personnel Actions
UpdateDate
Update 61 01/27/13
Update 60 10/18/12
Update 59 07/10/12
Update 58 05/22/12
Update 57 03/11/12
Update 56 01/01/12
Update 55 10/09/11
Update 54 03/01/11
Update 53 09/12/10
Update 52 03/28/10

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Personnel Recordkeeping (GPR)

Personnel recordkeeping regulations are found in part 293 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations. These regulations establish policies and minimum requirements governing the creation, development, maintenance, processing, use, and disposition.

The Guide to Personnel Recordkeeping is written in plain language and provides guidance to assist agencies with day to day personnel recordkeeping requirements.

The most recent Updates reflecting changes to pages in this Guide are reflected below. Updates, recent or otherwise, are archived. Collectively, Updates are already included within the Guide available on this site.

Updates to the Guide to Personnel Recordkeeping
UpdateDate
Update 8 12/14/2001
Update 7 05/31/2001
Update 6 10/31/2000

Requesting Official Personnel Folder (eOPF)

Current Employees

The Official Personnel Folders (OPFs) and electronic official personnel folders (eOPF), including SF 50s, for current Federal employees are stored at the employee’s current employing agency. Therefore, for copies of your personnel records, if you are currently employed by the Federal government, please contact your agency's Freedom of Information/Privacy office. You can find contact information on the Department of Justice's website.

OPF/eOPF Amendments

If you feel that your official personnel folder is in error, please contact your agency’s HR office.

Former Employees

The Official Personnel Folders (OPFs), including SF 50s, for most former civilian Federal employees are stored at the address below. Please mail your request to:

National Personnel Records Center (NPRC)
1411 Boulder Boulevard
Valmeyer, IL 62295

Or you may fax your hand signed request to the NPRC at telephone number 618-935-3014. More information is available on the NPRC website.

For eOPF Requests, please contact the eOPF Help Desk at 1-866-275-8518 or submit your request to ehridw@telesishq.com.

The OPFs for former Postal employees are stored at the address below. Please mail your request to:

U.S. Postal Service
General Manager
Headquarters Personnel Division
475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
Washington, DC 20260-4261

Your request to either the NPRC, the eOPF help desk or the U.S. Postal Service must include your hand written signature and all of the following information:

  • Social Security Number
  • Date of birth
  • Name of last agency where employed
  • Approximate date when you left Federal service

The location of records of former military employees varies depending on the branch of service and date of separation from service. Please visit NARA’s site on Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs) for details.

OPF/eOPF Amendments

If you feel that your official personnel folder is in error, please submit a written request to:U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Office of the Chief Information Officer
Chief, Records Management and Data Policy
1900 E Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20415-7900

Your request must include your hand written signature and all of the following information:

  • Social Security Number
  • Date of birth
  • Name of last agency where employed
  • Approximate date when you left Federal service
  • Details of the error you wish to be addressed

Background Investigations

For information on how to obtain a copy of your background investigation conducted by OPM’s Federal Investigative Services, please visit our FOIA contacts page.

Internal Records Management Inquiries

For assistance with records management at OPM, please contact our Records Management Help Desk at recordsmanagement@opm.gov, 202-606-1934, or:

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Office of the Chief Information Officer
Chief, Records Management and Data Policy
1900 E Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20415-7900

General and Governmentwide Records Management Inquiries

For questions regarding personnel records, you can reach Eric Bryant, Personnel Records Management Specialist, at the above address, at eric.bryant@opm.gov, or at 202-606-2463.

For general questions regarding Records Management at OPM, you can reach the Chief of Records Management and Data Analysis, Tanya E. Bennett, at the above address, by email at tanya.bennett@opm.gov, or by telephone at 202-606-4054.

For general Federal records management questions, please contact the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). You can view the General Records Schedules (GRS) on their website.

FAQs

  • If you're currently a Federal employee, contact your Human Resources Office. If you're no longer working for the Government, write to:  National Archives and Records Administration National Personnel Records Center 1411 Boulder Boulevard Valmeyer, IL 62295 FAX: 314-801-9270  For more information on contacting the National Personnel Records Center, go to http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/civilian-personnel/
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  • You may access the portal at https://eopf.nbc.gov/opm/.  For any other questions, you should contact eOPF Help Desk directly to obtain information.  Their e-mail address is eopf_hd@telesishq.com or you can call them on (866) 275-8518.
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  • Your Official Personnel Folder contains records the Government needs to make accurate employment decisions throughout your Federal career.These documents:
    • Show your Federal appointment was valid (Examples: the Appointment Affidavit; the Declaration for Federal Employment).
    • Verify your military service credit for leave, reduction-in-force, or retirement (Examples: the DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty; the Military Service Deposit Election).
    • Establish your employment history - your grades, occupations and pay (Example: the Standard Form 50, Notification of Personnel Action).
    • Record your choices under Federal benefits programs (Examples: the Health Benefits Registration Form; the Designation of Beneficiary under the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance Program).
    Check Chapter 3 of The Guide to Personnel Recordkeeping  [588KB] for more detailed information on what goes into the Official Personnel Folder.
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  • To obtain your military records, please visit the National Archives Center website at http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/
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  • There are several possible reasons.
    • Leave Without Pay.  You get credit for 6 months of leave without pay in a year.  Any nonpay time over that doesn't count.  When you return to duty, your SCD changes to eliminate credit for that additional nonpay time.
    • Intermittent Work.  If you work on an intermittent work schedule, you only get credit for the days you actually work.  Since you don't earn leave while you're an intermittent, your SCD doesn't change every time you work.  When you move into a full time or part time schedule, your SCD changes to credit the days you worked so you'll earn the right amount of leave.
    • Error.  If your SCD is wrong, your current employer has to correct it.
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  • No. There isn't any official Discontinued Service Retirement action.  These actions are processed as separations.  The circumstances of the separation are what make you eligible for Discontinued Service Retirement.  For more information on Discontinued Service Retirement, refer to Chapter 44 of the CSRS and FERS Handbook  [118KB].
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  • You.  Anyone you designate.  Government officials who need to see the records to do their jobs.  There are a limited number of special situations where others can see information from your personnel records.  These situations are described in routine uses under the Privacy Act System of Records Notice covering the Official Personnel Folder.For more information on the Privacy Act and the Office of Personnel Management's records systems under the Act, visit Privacy Act Information.
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  • No.  Your new agency should contact your current agency to let them know when you'll be moving to your new civil service job.  Once your current agency has proof you've been hired, the Human Resources Office should process a Termination Appointment In (new agency).  This way you should avoid unintentional breaks in service.
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  • Two reasons.
    1. To make sure important items in your employment history are documented consistently.  This ensures your rights and benefits as a Federal employee are protected over time, no matter where in Government you work.
    2. To collect information on human resources activities Governmentwide.  The Office of Personnel Management, Office of Management and Budget, Congress and others use this information to manage the Federal workforce.
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  • HR Specialists have read-write access to employees’ eOPF within their service area. Employees are able to view their own eOPF documents, but cannot modify the documents.  eOPF system includes an audit trail that records when and why an individual has reviewed an eOPF.  
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  • If you forget or lose your password, you can click the ‘Forgot Your Password?’ link on the eOPF login screen. If you have logged into eOPF previously and have answered security questions, you are asked to verify your identity and, once successfully verified, you will be able to create a new password. If you have never previously logged into eOPF,  contact your agency's human resource office.  
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  • The eOPF is an electronic version of the paper OPF and a system for accessing the electronic folder online. The eOPF system combines document management with workflow capabilities.   The eOPF allows each employee to have an electronic personnel folder instead of a paper folder. Benefits of eOPF include: *   Immediate access to personnel forms and information for a geographically dispersed workforce. *   E-mail notification to employee when documents are added to their eOPF. *   Multi-level secure environment with security rules for sensitive information. *   No loss of official personnel documents due to filing and routing errors. *   Reduced costs associated with storage, maintenance, and retrieval of records. *   Electronic transfer of human resources (HR) data. *   Integration with agency’s human resources information systems (HRIS). *   Compliance with OPM and federally mandated HR employee record management regulations.
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  • Contact the eOPF Help Desk use the following preferred method is email at eopf_hd@telesishq.com and alternate method is 1-866-275-8518.  You will need to provide the following: 1.  Full Name 2.  Agency/Organization 3.  Contact information (phone and email)  4.  The Agency URL impacted (the link to the website)  5.  The Web Server number (found above the login and password prompts)  6.  Complete description of the problem (include screen shots if possible)  
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  • The Official Personnel Folder (Standard Form 66) is a file containing records for an individual’s federal employment career. Employees with OPFs are those in the Executive Branch service, as listed in Title V of the United States Code and some federal employees not under Title V. The long-term records in the file are included to protect the legal and financial rights of the government and the employee. The OPF is part of the government-wide system of records, OPM/GOVT-1.
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  • As of April 2010, approximately 70 agencies are in the process of, or have completed, their eOPF implementation.  Over 1.1 million records have been converted to eOPF. Numerous agencies have made eOPF available to their employees. The list of agencies using eOPF continues to grow.  
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  • eOPF, like other web-based systems, is intuitive. During setup and installation selected human resource personnel attend classroom training, and end-user training is available at your agency's discretion.
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  • While every effort has been made to ensure that the information in your eOPF is correct, errors can occur.  Any errors or omissions regarding content should be immediately reported to your agency's human resource servicing office for proper identification and resolution.
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  • OPM is hosting the eOPF system for all federal government agencies. Nightly incremental backups are conducted, which include all new documents and any related information added on a given day. Full system-wide backups occur weekly. OPM performs complete off-site storage of the entire data repository monthly.
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  • If you disagree with the action that was taken rather than the way it was documented, then it's not a case where the records are wrong.  In these cases, you have to file a grievance or appeal within the required time limits.  If the records don't document what actually happened, then the records are wrong.  If you're still employed, you should contact your Human Resources Office.  If you're no longer employed, write to: Deputy Associate Director Office of the Chief Information Officer Office of Personnel Management 1900 E Street, NW Washington, DC 20415-6000 Include enough information to: *   Identify the record (your name and social security number, the name and date of the record). *   Explain why you think it's wrong, including any evidence supporting your position. *   Show how you would correct the record.
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  • These files are generally retained in the agency that created them.  The National Archives and Records Administration publishes records schedules that describe various files and how long agencies are to keep them.  Refer to General Records Schedule 1 for information on personnel files.  To review the Schedule, go to http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/grs/grs01.html
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