During your career in the federal service you will hear the term "OPF" quite frequently. Every federal employee has an Official Personnel Folder (OPF) which contains the official history of the person's work experiences, salary history, benefits coverage, designation of beneficiaries, and training. The OPF is the property of the U.S. Government and is maintained by the Human Resources Regional Service Center in Arlington, VA. If you transfer to other agencies, your OPF will follow you throughout your federal career. You may request to review your OPF or receive copies of its contents by notifying the Personnel Office representative who will coordinate your request.

Certain personnel actions (e.g., promotion, awards, and job changes) are documented on a Standard Form 50 (SF-50) and sent to you when it is produced for your OPF. You are encouraged to maintain copies of your SF-50s as well as any other forms concerning your benefits in your own files for future reference.