Standard Form 50 at a glance
What it is: Standard Form 50 is the Notification of Personnel Action of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Who signs: Box 50 is the Signature/Authentication and Title of Approving Official. Box 46 is the Employing Department or Agency.
Standard Form 50 is your copy of the official notice of a personnel action.
A filled-in Standard Form 50 example: a personnel office records a new appointment
How to fill out Standard Form 50, box by box
Name, Social Security Number, Date of Birth and Effective Date
Enter the name in box 1 as Last, First, Middle, then the Social Security Number in box 2, the Date of Birth in box 3 and the Effective Date in box 4.
First action: Code, Nature of Action and Legal Authority
Under FIRST ACTION, enter 5-A. Code and 5-B. Nature of Action, 5-C. Code and 5-D. Legal Authority, 5-E. Code and 5-F. Legal Authority, then 6-A. Code and 6-B. Nature of Action, 6-C. Code and 6-D. Legal Authority, 6-E. Code and 6-F. Legal Authority.
The Action Blocks 5-B and 6-B describe the personnel action(s) that occurred.
Position Title and Number
Enter the FROM Position Title and Number in box 7 and the TO Position Title and Number in box 15.
Pay Plan, Grade or Level, Step or Rate, Total Salary and Pay Basis
Enter the Pay Plan, Occ. Code, Grade or Level, Step or Rate, Total Salary and Pay Basis in boxes 8 to 13 for FROM and in boxes 16 to 21 for TO, where box 20 is Total Salary/Award.
Enter 12A. Basic Pay, 12B. Locality Adj., 12C. Adj. Basic Pay and 12D. Other Pay for FROM, and 20A. Basic Pay, 20B. Locality Adj., 20C. Adj. Basic Pay and 20D. Other Pay for TO.
When the personnel action is an award or bonus, block 20 shows the amount of that one-time cash payment. When the action is not an award or bonus, block 12 shows your former total annual salary, and block 20 shows your new total annual salary (block 20C plus 20D).
The amount in blocks 12 and 20 do not include any one-time cash payments (such as performance awards and recruitment or relocation bonuses) or payments that may vary from one pay period to the next (such as overtime pay), or other forms of premium pay.
Block 20A is the scheduled amount for your grade and step, including any special salary rate you receive. It does not include any locality-based pay.
Block 20B is the annual dollar amount of your interim Geographic Adjustment or, beginning in 1994, your locality-based comparability payment.
Block 20C is your Adjusted Basic Pay, the total of blocks 20A and 20B.
Block 20D is the total dollar amount of any Retention Allowances, Supervisory Differentials, and Staffing Differentials that are listed in the remarks block. These payments are made in the same manner as basic pay, but are not a part of basic pay for any purpose.
Name and Location of Position's Organization
Enter the Name and Location of Position's Organization in box 14 for FROM and in box 22 for TO. Blocks 15-22 show the position and organization to which you are assigned.
Veterans Preference, Tenure and Veterans Pref. for RIF
Under EMPLOYEE DATA, enter 23. Veterans Preference, 24. Tenure, 25. Agency Use and 26. Veterans Pref. for RIF. Tenure: 0 - None, 1 - Permanent, 2 - Conditional and 3 - Indefinite. Veterans Preference: 1 - None, 2 - 5-Point, 3 - 10-Point/Disability, 4 - 10-Point/Compensable, 5 - 10-Point/Other and 6 - 10-Point/Compensable/30%. Veterans Pref. for RIF: YES and NO.
Block 26 - Veterans Preference to RIF indicates if you have preference for reduction-in-force purposes.
Retirement Plan, Service Comp. Date (Leave), Work Schedule and Part-Time Hours
Enter 27. FEGLI, 28. Annuitant Indicator and 29. Pay Rate Determinant, then 30. Retirement Plan, 31. Service Comp. Date (Leave), 32. Work Schedule and 33. Part-Time Hours Per Biweekly Pay Period.
FICA - Social Security System; CS - Civil Service Retirement System; CS-Spec - Civil Service Retirement System for law enforcement and firefighter personnel; FS - Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System; FERS-Reserve Tech - Federal Employees' Retirement System for National Guard Reserve Technicians; FERS-ATC - Federal Employees' Retirement System for Air Traffic Controllers; FERS-Spec - Federal Employees' Retirement System for law enforcement and firefighter personnel; FSPS - Foreign Service Pension System.
Your work Schedule is established by your supervisor. A full-time employee works on a prearranged scheduled tour of duty that is usually 40 hours per week. A part-time employee has a prearranged scheduled tour of duty that is usually between 16 and 32 hours per week. An intermittent employee has no prearranged scheduled tour of duty and works when needed. Block 33 is Part-time Hours Per Biweekly Pay Period.
Position Data: Position Occupied, FLSA Category and Bargaining Unit Status
Under POSITION DATA, enter 34. Position Occupied, 35. FLSA Category, 36. Appropriation Code and 37. Bargaining Unit Status. Position Occupied: 1 - Competitive Service, 2 - Excepted Service, 3 - SES General and 4 - SES Career. FLSA Category: E - Exempt and N- Non-exempt. Exempt employees are not covered by the minimum wage and overtime law (the Fair Labor Standards Act); nonexempt employees are covered.
Block 37 - Bargaining Unit Status identifies a bargaining unit to which you belong, whether or not you are actually a member of a labor organization.
Code "7777" indicates you are eligible but not in a bargaining unit; code "8888" indicates you are ineligible for inclusion in a bargaining unit.
Duty Station Code and Duty Station
Enter the Duty Station Code in box 38 and the Duty Station in box 39 as City - County - State or Overseas Location.
AGENCY DATA and Remarks
Enter AGENCY DATA in boxes 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44, and the Remarks in box 45.
Agency Code, Personnel Office ID, Approval Date and Signature of the Approving Official
Box 50 is the Signature/Authentication and Title of Approving Official. Box 46 is the Employing Department or Agency.
Enter the Agency Code in box 47, the Personnel Office ID in box 48 and the Approval Date in box 49.
More rules for Standard Form 50
The 5-Part form has 1 - Employee Copy - Keep for Future Reference, 2 - OPF Copy - Long-Term Record - DO NOT DESTROY, 3 - Payroll Copy and 4 - Chronological Journal File Copy.
If your situation is different
Your appointment entitles you to elect health benefits or life insurance
Contact your personnel specialist if your appointment entitles you to elect health benefits or life insurance and you have not been provided materials explaining the programs available and the enrollment forms.
Your position is covered by an agreement between an employee organization (union) and your agency
Your personnel specialist will tell you if your position is covered by an agreement between an employee organization (union) and your agency. If you are eligible to and elect to join an employee organization, you can elect to have your dues withheld from your salary.
Common questions about Standard Form 50
What is a SF-50?
Standard Form 50 is the Notification of Personnel Action of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Keep Standard Form 50 with your records because it could be used to make employment, pay, and qualifications decisions about you in the future.
When is this form not the right one?
Editions prior to 7/91 are not usable after 6/30/93.
Where to get help with Standard Form 50
On Standard Form 50, it is your responsibility to read all the information on the front of this notice and tell your personnel office immediately if there is an error in it.
Definitions for any coded data in Blocks 1-24, 27-39 and 45-50 may be found in Federal Personnel Manuals Supplement 292-1.
Sources
[1] Standard Form 50 (Rev. 7/91), Notification of Personnel Action, U.S. Office of Personnel Management (the Official source link on this page).
