Form SF 50, Notification of Personnel Action

Standard Form 50, Notification of Personnel Action (SF 50) is the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) form that serves as the official notice of a personnel action, showing the action taken, the position and organization involved, the pay, and the employee and position data that go with it.

The form is built in blocks. Blocks 5 and 6 describe the first and second personnel action, each with a code, a nature of action and a legal authority. Blocks 7 to 14 give the FROM position, pay and organization, and blocks 15 to 22 give the TO position, pay and organization. Blocks 23 to 31 hold employee data such as veterans preference, tenure, retirement plan and service computation date. Blocks 32 to 39 hold position data such as work schedule, FLSA category, bargaining unit status and duty station. Blocks 40 to 50 carry agency data, remarks, the employing agency, personnel office ID, approval date and the signature or authentication of the approving official.

The notice printed on the employee copy says the form could be used to make employment, pay and qualifications decisions about the employee in the future. The printed revision is Rev. 7/91, and editions prior to 7/91 are not usable after 6/30/93.

SF 50 is a different document from SF 52, Request for Personnel Action, which OPM lists separately on its standard forms page. SF 50 is the notice of the action.

Federal employees receive the SF 50 as the notice of a personnel action that affects them. The employee copy says it is "your copy of the official notice of a personnel action" and should be kept with your records.

• Employees: read all the information on the front of the notice and tell your personnel office immediately if there is an error. Your personnel specialist is also the contact if your appointment lets you elect health benefits or life insurance and you have not received the program materials and enrollment forms.
• Agency personnel offices and approving officials: the form carries the personnel office ID, the approval date and the signature or authentication and title of the approving official, and it is distributed as an employee copy, an Official Personnel Folder (OPF) copy and a payroll copy.

The form does not say that anyone other than the employee and the agency uses it, and it sets no eligibility test of its own: it records an action that has already occurred.

An SF 50 is issued when a personnel action occurs: the first action is entered in blocks 5-A to 5-F, a second action in blocks 6-A to 6-F, and the date they take effect is entered in the Effective Date block. The form prints no separate due date for the employee.

If you find an error in the notice, the form tells you to inform your personnel office immediately. Keep the employee copy for future reference, because it may later be used in employment, pay and qualifications decisions.

Only Rev. 7/91 and later editions are usable: the form states that editions prior to 7/91 are not usable after 6/30/93.

The SF 50 prints no mailing address, portal or appointment rule. It is issued as a three-part set, and each part has a different destination.

• Part 1, Employee Copy: goes to the employee, who keeps it for future reference.
• Part 2, OPF Copy: a long-term record marked DO NOT DESTROY.
• Part 3, Payroll Copy: the copy for payroll.

Questions about the notice, your rights and benefits, or an error on it go to your supervisor or your personnel office, and your personnel specialist can tell you whether your position is covered by an agreement between an employee organization and your agency. The form also points to Federal Personnel Manual Supplement 292-1 for definitions of the coded data in blocks 1-24, 27-39 and 45-50.

FillingPDF lets you fill out and download the PDF; submission follows the channels above.