OSC Responds to PEER Complaint Regarding the Merit Hiring Plan

June 30, 2025

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) today issued in a letter response to a request from Public Employees for Environmental Reform (PEER) for an advisory opinion regarding the new Merit Hiring Plan from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and whether its implementation would constitute a prohibited personnel practice (PPP) through the use of four essay questions in job applications for federal employment.

In the response, Senior Counsel Charles Baldis explained that OSC “does not provide advisory opinions on matters unrelated to ... the Hatch Act,” but he was “able to share OSC’s initial conclusions regarding” the allegation of a PPP.

OSC cannot conclude that the use of these essay questions would directly constitute a PPP, but OSC also welcomes OPM’s release of updated guidance on this issue because it “should help prevent agencies from misusing the four questions.”

Baldis concluded with an assurance that “OSC will continue to receive and review any complaints raised about the implementation of the Merit Hiring Plan to ensure that no PPPs are committed and that the merit system principles are upheld.”