OPM has told agencies to report on their procedures for handling claims from their employees over leave and compensation, disputes over which OPM has final say but which generally must be processed at the agency level first.
Under regulations, agencies must establish written claims adjudication procedures and delegations of authority to accept and decide claims, OPM said in a memo to agencies. Authority to issue a final decision may be retained at the agency level or may be delegated to lower organizational levels.
OPM in turn needs to determine whether to accept and docket the claim because the claimant has exhausted the internal agency review process or to refer the claimant to the correct agency office for a final internal decision, as well as to establish the date the claim was preserved for purposes of the six-year statute of limitations.
OPM ordered agencies to provide by the end of February their claims adjudication procedures and delegations of authority for issuing claims decisions, along with points of-contact. Agencies now also must notify OPM of any changes on an ongoing basis.
