I Two clocks
Agencies conflate these constantly, and it costs people rights they already hold.
| Question | Governed by |
|---|---|
| Am I serving a probationary period? | 5 CFR part 315 |
| Am I an “employee” with appeal rights? | 5 U.S.C. 7511 |
You can be both at once. Being a probationer does not by itself mean you lack procedural and appeal rights — and that is not a technicality, it is what the statute says.
II Who counts as an employee
5 U.S.C. 7511(a)(1) defines “employee” for adverse action purposes. The competitive service limb reads:
The word that matters is “or”
An individual in the competitive service —
(ii) who has completed 1 year of current continuous service under other than a temporary appointment limited to 1 year or less.
Either limb is enough. MSPB has stated that someone who has completed a year of current continuous service may hold full procedural and appeal rights even while in a probationary period.
| Who | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Competitive service | 1 year current continuous service |
| Excepted, preference eligible | 1 year in same or similar positions |
| Excepted, no preference | 2 years in same or similar positions |
Two things follow. Veterans' preference halves the wait in the excepted service. And the excepted service takes a year longer than the competitive service to reach the same protection — which is worth knowing before accepting an excepted appointment.
III Tacking prior service
You may have already finished probation without being told. Under 5 CFR 315.802, prior service counts toward completion where all four apply:
| The prior service was |
|---|
| Rendered immediately preceding the probationary appointment |
| Performed in the same agency |
| Performed in the same line of work |
| Completed with no more than one break of less than 30 days |
Anyone who moved from a fellowship, internship or term appointment straight into a permanent job in the same office doing the same work. On paper the new appointment restarted a probationary period. Under 315.802 the earlier service may already have completed it. If you are facing an action and have been told you are probationary, this is the first thing to check. See probationary termination.
IV Which Side Am I On?
Do I Hold Appeal Rights Yet?
V Year three
Career tenure converts a career-conditional appointment into a career appointment. It also does something that outlives the job.
There is no time limit on the reinstatement eligibility of someone who completed the service requirement for career tenure. Leave before it and your route back closes after three years. Complete it and the option stays open for life. Covered in coming back to federal service.
That makes the third anniversary the most consequential date in federal service, and almost nobody is told about it while they still have a choice.
VI What tenure does in a RIF
Tenure sets which group you occupy on a retention register, and groups are reached in order — a career employee is reached only once the groups below are exhausted.
But the ordering inside a group changed in 2026. Performance credit from your three most recent ratings of record is computed first, veterans' preference is added as points on top, and tenure and length of service are now tie-breakers reached afterwards rather than the primary sort.
So tenure still decides which group you are in. It no longer decides where you sit within it. The mechanics are in RIF retention standing.
VII Playbook
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Told you are probationary | Check separately whether you meet the 7511 definition. Different question. |
| Came from a fellowship or term job | Check tacking under 5 CFR 315.802. You may already be through. |
| Facing an action near a threshold | Establish which side you are on before you respond. |
| In the excepted service | Two years, not one — unless you are a preference eligible. |
| A veteran in the excepted service | One year. Your preference halves the wait. |
| Approaching three years | Career tenure buys a lifetime route back. Know the date. |
| Thinking of leaving at 2 years 11 months | Understand exactly what one more month is worth. |
| Facing a RIF | Tenure sets your group. Ratings now set your place within it. |
Know your own dates
- Pull every SF-50 and map your appointments end to end.
- Work out your current continuous service in months.
- Identify whether you are competitive or excepted service.
- Check whether any prior service can be tacked under 315.802.
- Diary your appeal-rights threshold date.
- Diary your career tenure date separately.
- If a veteran, confirm your preference is recorded correctly.
- If facing an action, get both answers in writing before responding.
Questions
Yes, and this surprises almost everyone. The definition of employee in 5 U.S.C. 7511(a)(1)(A) is written with an or: an individual in the competitive service who is not serving a probationary period under an initial appointment, or who has completed one year of current continuous service under other than a temporary appointment limited to one year or less. Meeting either limb is enough. The Merit Systems Protection Board has said plainly that someone who has completed a year of current continuous service may have full procedural and appeal rights even when in a probationary period.
Two years for a non-preference eligible: completion of two years of current continuous service in the same or similar positions in an Executive agency, under other than a temporary appointment limited to two years or less. A preference eligible in the excepted service reaches the same protection at one year of current continuous service in the same or similar positions. So veterans' preference halves the wait, and the excepted service is a year longer than the competitive service either way.
It can, through what is known as tacking. Under 5 CFR 315.802 prior service counts toward completion of probation where it was rendered immediately preceding the probationary appointment, performed in the same agency, performed in the same line of work, and completed with no more than one break in service of less than 30 days. Someone who moved from a fellowship or a term appointment straight into a permanent job in the same office may already have finished probation without being told.
It converts a career-conditional appointment into a career appointment, and it gives you something that outlives the job: there is no time limit on the reinstatement eligibility of a person who has completed the service requirement for career tenure. Leave before that point and your ability to return by reinstatement expires after three years. Complete it and the option stays open for the rest of your life, which makes the third year the single most consequential anniversary in federal service.
Tenure determines which group you sit in on a retention register, and groups are considered in order, so a career employee is reached only after the groups below have been exhausted. What changed in 2026 is the ordering within a group: performance credit from your three most recent ratings of record is now computed first, with veterans' preference added as points on top, and tenure and length of service reached afterwards as tie-breakers rather than as the primary sort.
Because the two questions are genuinely different and agencies frequently conflate them. Whether you are serving a probationary period is one question, governed by 5 CFR part 315. Whether you meet the statutory definition of employee, and therefore hold procedural and appeal rights, is a separate question governed by 5 U.S.C. 7511. You can be a probationer and an employee at the same time. If you are facing an action, establish both answers rather than accepting the first.
Five years of creditable civilian service is the point at which entitlement to a FERS annuity vests, so leaving after that preserves a deferred annuity payable later rather than only a refund of contributions. Five years also appears in the health and life insurance rules for carrying coverage into retirement, which turn on being enrolled for the five years immediately before you retire or since first becoming eligible. Those are benefit thresholds rather than protections against action.
Two things. Know your own dates, because nobody will volunteer them: pull your SF-50s and work out your current continuous service, your probation completion date and your career tenure date. And if you are ever facing a proposed action while near one of these thresholds, establish precisely which side of it you are on before responding, because the answer decides whether you have a right to advance notice, an opportunity to reply and an appeal.