What is the timeline and process for OPM to publish 2026 locality pay tables and appeals?
Executive summary
OPM published the 2026 General Schedule salary and locality pay tables after the President’s alternative pay plan and Pay Agent guidance set the parameters: a 1.0% across‑the‑board increase with locality percentages held at 2025 levels, and OPM posted the new salary tables and related guidance in late 2025 and early 2026 [1] [2]. The process combines statutory requirements, an executive order from the President/Pay Agent decisions, agency requests for special rates, and OPM’s technical publication of locality area definitions and PDF pay tables on its website (p1_s2; [2]–[10]3).
1. How the 2026 parameters were set: executive order and Pay Agent guidance
The baseline numbers used to compute 2026 pay tables were fixed by the President’s alternative plan under 5 U.S.C. 5303(b) and 5304a and by the Pay Agent memorandum: the Executive order authorized a 1.0 percent across‑the‑board raise and directed that locality percentages remain at 2025 levels, and OPM circulated a memo describing how those directives apply across pay systems on behalf of the Pay Agent (the Secretary of Labor, OMB Director and OPM Director) [1].
2. OPM’s publication timeline and final posting of tables
Following the executive action and Pay Agent guidance, OPM posted the 2026 salary and locality tables on its website; coverage shows OPM had issued the tables and related PDFs (e.g., 2026‑CS, RUS, RT, DCB, SF and LEO tables) and pay examples as official materials available to agencies and the public by late 2025 into January 2026 [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [1]. Independent reporting and retirement sites noted the White House executive order and confirmed the availability of OPM’s official pay tables [9] [1].
3. Legal and technical steps OPM follows to produce locality tables
OPM’s publication is the product of statutory formulas and administrative steps: Congress’s pay statutes and executive authority set overall pay adjustments, the Pay Agent determines locality percentage guidance, OPM applies those percentages to the General Schedule salary structure, compiles locality pay area definitions, and generates tabulated salary PDFs for each locality pay area and special‑rate table (as reflected in OPM’s Salaries & Wages landing page and locality area definitions) (p1_s2; [2]–[10]3).
4. Special rates and LEO exceptions that change payable rates
Separate from standard locality tables, OPM maintains special‑rate tables and law enforcement officer (LEO) locality tables that can produce higher pay for affected employees; LEOs at certain GS grades are entitled to higher special rates where applicable, and OPM notes that special rate tables under 5 U.S.C. 5305 can supersede lower locality rates [10] [11] [7].
5. Appeals, special rate requests, and where employees or agencies can seek adjustments
OPM’s Salaries & Wages pages list mechanisms such as “Special Rate Requests” and provide guidance for special rate tables and locality area definitions, which is the procedural avenue agencies use to request higher special rates for recruitment/retention problems, but the published materials in these sources do not lay out a step‑by‑step formal “appeals” process for individual employees contesting locality assignment or pay—agencies typically work through OPM and the Pay Agent on special‑rate petitions and locality boundary questions [12] [9]. OPM also published examples and fact sheets explaining how to compute payable rates and promotions across the new tables, which agencies and payroll offices use to implement adjustments [8].
6. Timing signals and practical implementation for agencies and employees
Key dates in the public record: the President’s alternative plan was noted in August 2025 and Pay Agent/OPM memos and the posting of salary tables occurred in December 2025 into January 2026, which is the practical timeline agencies used to update payrolls and to begin adjudicating special‑rate requests and locality‑area concerns [1] [2] [9]. Where disputes or requests arise, agencies submit special rate requests or coordinate with OPM; OPM’s online special‑rates resources and locality pay area definitions are the official references [12].
7. Limits of available reporting and concluding assessment
The documentary record from OPM and reporting clearly establishes the decision drivers (Executive order/Pay Agent), the publication of the 2026 tables and LEO/special‑rate rules, and the procedural channel for agencies to request special rates, but the sources provided do not include a granular, formal appeals checklist for individual employees contesting a locality assignment or an exhaustive timeline for adjudication of special‑rate petitions—those operational details are handled through agency payroll offices, OPM adjudications, and Pay Agent decisions referenced on OPM’s Salaries & Wages pages [12] [1].