Last Updated: August 2, 2026 Reading Time: 9 min

Winning your MSPB appeal was supposed to be the hard part. Then the agency slow-walks your reinstatement, shorts your back pay, or simply doesn't act. Federal law has a specific machine for this moment, the Petition for Enforcement, and a 2026 Board decision just changed one important piece of how it works.

Step One: The Petition for Enforcement

An MSPB win is a court-style order, and agencies usually comply. When they don't, the PFE is your tool. The mechanics, under 5 CFR 1201.182 and 1201.183:

  • Where: the MSPB regional or field office that issued your initial decision (for most adverse-action cases). Original-jurisdiction cases go to the Clerk of the Board.
  • When: "promptly" after you identify noncompliance. There's no fixed day count, which cuts both ways; file as soon as the agency misses a deadline or delivers less than the order requires.
  • What goes in it: the specific ways the agency is out of compliance, with dates, plus your communications with the agency about it. Vague frustration doesn't move an AJ; a dated list of what the order required versus what happened does.
  • The clock after filing: the agency has 15 days to respond, and you get 10 days to reply.

Document the gap precisely before you file. If the order said reinstatement and back pay, list: the reinstatement date offered versus required, the pay periods unpaid, the TSP deposits not made, the leave balance not restored. Each line becomes something the judge can order fixed by a date certain.

What Full Compliance Actually Includes

The Back Pay Act (5 U.S.C. 5596) is broader than most people expect. When you win, you are "deemed to have performed service" for the entire wrongful-separation period, for all purposes. That means:

Item What you're owed
Back pay All pay, allowances, and differentials for the period
Interest From the wrongful action to within 30 days of payment, at the IRS underpayment rate
TSP Your missed contributions restored, plus the agency match, plus lost-earnings adjustments
FEHB Retroactive coverage as though never interrupted
FERS Full service credit for the separation period
Leave Annual and sick leave accruals restored
Records Personnel file corrected

One common fear, answered: outside income you earned while separated offsets back pay only to the extent of what you actually earned. The Board has rejected speculative mitigation arguments about what you could have earned. Keep your records; the math should be arithmetic, not argument.

If an agency ignores even a compliance order, the statute has a last resort. Under 5 U.S.C. 1204(e)(2)(A), MSPB can certify the responsible officials to the Comptroller General, who may withhold those officials' own pay until the agency complies. It's rarely used, but its existence is why most compliance fights end before it.

What 2026 MSPB 6 Changed for Mixed Cases

A "mixed case" pairs an appealable action with a discrimination claim under 5 U.S.C. 7702. The new precedential decision, reported by FedWeek and quoting the Board's own language, involved a Navy employee who won reinstatement after a removal, then alleged the agency's refusal to comply was itself discriminatory and retaliatory.

The Board's holding: it "may not adjudicate discrimination claims in an enforcement proceeding in a 'mixed' case, even if they pertain to the agency's alleged noncompliance." In enforcement, the Board will now only assess whether the agency restored the status quo ante or met its settlement terms, overturning prior precedent that had let discrimination arguments into compliance proceedings.

Practically, that splits your case in two:

  1. The compliance track stays at MSPB. Did the agency do what the order required? File your PFE and litigate that on the facts.
  2. The discrimination track moves to federal district court. If the agency's noncompliance is driven by discrimination or retaliation, that claim goes to district court under 5 U.S.C. 7702(f) and 7703(b)(2), the routing the Supreme Court confirmed in Kloeckner v. Solis. Exhaustion and timing rules apply, which makes this the point to bring in a federal employment attorney rather than after a deadline passes.

One caveat on sourcing: 2026 MSPB 6 has not yet appeared in the Board's published case reports (the most recent report covers through 2026 MSPB 5), so the holding above rests on FedWeek's direct quotation of the Board's language. The direction fits the Board's 2026 pattern of narrowing its own jurisdiction.

The Post-Slaughter Backdrop

This decision lands in a year when the Board's posture has visibly shifted. After the Supreme Court's Trump v. Slaughter ruling, MSPB stopped describing itself as independent, removing the word from its website and materials, while confirming its adjudicatory functions continue unchanged. For an employee mid-enforcement, the machinery still works: orders issue, PFEs get heard, back pay gets paid. The structural question is where the Board's self-limiting trend, from Douglas factors to RIF appeals to enforcement jurisdiction, leaves employees five years from now. For your case, use the process that exists today, and use its deadlines carefully.

For non-mixed cases, the endgame deadline is unforgiving: 60 days from the Board's final enforcement order to petition the Federal Circuit under 5 U.S.C. 7703(b)(1)(A). Courts treat it as jurisdictional. Calendar it the day the final order arrives.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Petition for Enforcement and when do I file one?

If an agency fails to comply with a final MSPB decision, such as refusing to reinstate you after you won, you file a Petition for Enforcement with the MSPB regional or field office that issued your initial decision. Describe specifically how the agency is failing to comply, with dates. The regulation (5 CFR 1201.181-1201.182) says to file promptly; waiting creates procedural risk.

What can MSPB order the agency to do if it finds noncompliance?

Immediate reinstatement, back pay with interest, restored TSP contributions including the agency match, retroactive FEHB coverage, full FERS service credit for the separation period, restored leave accruals, and corrected personnel records, with proof of compliance due by a set date. Continued refusal can end with responsible officials certified to the Comptroller General, who may withhold their pay.

What happens to my discrimination claim in enforcement after 2026 MSPB 6?

The Board ruled it will not adjudicate discrimination claims inside enforcement proceedings in mixed cases, even when the alleged discrimination is the reason for the noncompliance. MSPB will only check whether the agency restored the status quo ante. The discrimination component now goes to federal district court under 5 USC 7702 and 7703(b)(2).

Does other income I earned reduce my back pay?

Only wages you actually earned from other employment are offset under the Back Pay Act. There is no speculative duty-to-mitigate reduction based on jobs you might have found. Keep records of actual earnings so the calculation is right.

How do I challenge an enforcement outcome in a non-mixed case?

Petition the Federal Circuit within 60 days of the Board's final order under 5 USC 7703(b)(1)(A). Courts treat the deadline as jurisdictional, so missing it usually ends the case.

Did Trump v. Slaughter take away MSPB enforcement power?

No. Slaughter removed board members' for-cause removal protection, and MSPB has since stopped calling itself independent, but the agency confirmed its adjudicatory functions are unchanged. Your appeal rights, the PFE process, and agencies' compliance obligations all still operate.

Sources: FedWeek, "MSPB Again Acts to Limit its Own Powers" (2026, quoting 2026 MSPB 6) · 5 CFR 1201.181-1201.183 · 5 U.S.C. 5596 (Back Pay Act) · 5 U.S.C. 7703 · MSPB case reports