Federal Workforce: Selected Agencies Need to Improve Employee Name Change Process
Fast Facts
Each year, thousands of federal employees change their legal name for reasons including marriage, divorce, or personal preference.
We looked at the process for federal employees to make this change and whether selected agencies followed Office of Personnel Management guidance. We found that while these agencies have procedures in place to handle name changes, employees still found the process challenging because they didn’t have clear instructions to follow.
We recommended that agencies develop comprehensive instructions to guide employees through the name change process and to collect employee feedback on their experience.
Image of a driver's license, Social Security card, and passport.
Highlights
What GAO Found
GAO found that all four selected agencies had procedures for processing personnel actions for employees who legally changed their names in accordance with Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidance from late 2023 to 2024. Three of the four selected agencies—Departments of State and Veterans Affairs (VA) and Social Security Administration (SSA)—also had procedures following OPM guidance in place at the time for processing gender identity changes to their employees' official personnel folders. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officials stated that they did not receive requests to process gender changes to employees' official personnel folders.
Overview of the Name Change Process for Federal Employees
Two of the four selected agencies—SSA and VA—lacked comprehensive guidance documenting an employee's responsibilities to effectively complete all the steps required to request a name change, including expected time frames. GAO asked employees at each of the selected agencies to describe their agency's guidance or resources for the name change process. Employees in all focus groups and nearly all interviews said they experienced challenges navigating their respective agency's name change processes due to the lack of guidance or insufficient guidance. Without comprehensive documentation that clearly communicates the process for completing name changes, federal employees' abilities to complete work tasks could be adversely affected.
Each of the selected agencies lacked systematic feedback mechanisms for capturing employee views on all portions of the name change process. Participants in nearly all focus groups described challenges navigating human resources, IT, or security steps, including unhelpful interactions with agency staff. Without a specific feedback mechanism to collect employees' views on the various process steps for changing their names, selected agencies are missing opportunities for improvement, such as addressing employee pain points.
Why GAO Did This Study
Individuals can elect to change their legal names for various reasons, including marriage, divorce, or personal preference, and thousands of federal employees change their names every year. OPM instructs federal agencies to accept and process an employee's request for a name change due to marriage or court action on their personnel files.
GAO was asked to review the processes for federal employees to request changes to their names and genders on federal records. This report examines the extent to which selected agencies followed OPM's guidance from late 2023 through 2024 for name and gender changes. GAO selected four agencies for review—State, VA, IRS, and SSA—based on agency size and volume of public interaction. GAO reviewed OPM guidance and selected agencies' guidance and documentation. GAO also interviewed OPM officials and officials at each of the selected agencies. In addition, GAO held focus groups and interviews with employees who had experience with the name and gender change processes at each selected agency.
Recommendations
GAO is making six recommendations to the four selected agencies to develop comprehensive documentation that guides employees through all steps of the name change process and create a specific mechanism for collecting employee feedback on the whole process, as applicable.
IRS, SSA, and State plan to take actions. VA disagreed and GAO still believes further actions would improve employees' experiences.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should develop comprehensive documentation that clearly guides employees through all steps of the name change process. (Recommendation 1) |
VA non-concurred with GAO's recommendation and in a letter dated April 3, 2026, reiterated its rationale for doing so. VA stated that it provided documentation during GAO's review that guides employees through all steps of the name change process. VA provided a job aid updated as of April 28, 2025, that VA said walks employees through the process of changing their name. We continue to believe that comprehensive documentation would improve VA's name change process. We recognize that while VA's job aid guides employees through the human resources portion of the name change process, it does not provide comprehensive information and instructions VA employees need to complete the entire name change process. As stated in the report, employees are responsible for contacting multiple agency offices to help ensure their name changes are completely and accurately reflected across all their records, including agency identification credentials, email addresses, and various agency computer systems, in addition to their HR records. VA employees, during focus groups, told GAO they encountered difficulties after verifying their legal name changes in VA's HR system with subsequent request to update additional agency records.
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| Social Security Administration | The Commissioner of Social Security should develop comprehensive documentation that clearly guides employees through all steps of the name change process. (Recommendation 2) |
SSA reported and provided documentation to GAO that the agency, in December 2025, developed a name change procedure document that outlines the steps required to process a name change. The document is available to employees through SSA's HR Connect, a comprehensive tool designed to provide employees with access to HR support. The name changes procedure document describes to whom employees should submit name requests, the documentation required, and the multiple systems where updates are needed. Making this comprehensive document available can help SSA employees navigate the name change process to help ensure accuracy and consistency across agency systems and personnel records.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should create a specific mechanism for collecting employee feedback to improve employees' experiences with the whole name change process. (Recommendation 3) |
VA disagreed with our recommendation. In May 2026 letter, VA reiterated that it collects feedback from employees on their experience with VA's human resources systems and makes improvements to VA's processes and documentation based on the employee input. According to VA, employees can provide feedback or raise issues via its "Need Help" portal and through the portal, VA's service desk can review and codify trends, reach out and assist employees, and if needed, update capabilities and processes. VA also said that its Chief Human Capital Office SharePoint site includes a section through which feedback is received, reviewed, and responded to on a regular basis. We continue to believe a specific mechanism for collecting employee feedback on the whole name change process, including steps for making requests at other agency offices such as security (for badging and clearances) or IT (for computer user accounts and email addresses) can help capture complete information about challenges faced by VA employees. VA's contact mechanisms provide employees general opportunities to provide feedback related to the HR portion of the name change process. Our recommendation calls for specific, systematic mechanisms to capture employee feedback and address potential pain points experienced by employees navigating the entirety of the name change process and not only its HR component. Doing so could improve service delivery and provide a better experience for VA employees.
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| Internal Revenue Service | The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should create a specific mechanism for collecting employee feedback to improve employees' experiences with the whole name change process. (Recommendation 4) |
IRS agreed with our recommendation. In May 2026, IRS stated that its Human Capital Office (HCO) plans to develop a survey to collect feedback from employees who have undergone the name change process. HCO will encourage stakeholders involved in the name change process to use the survey results to identify opportunities to improve employees' experiences.
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| Social Security Administration | The Commissioner of Social Security should create a specific mechanism for collecting employee feedback to improve employees' experiences with the whole name change process. (Recommendation 5) |
SSA reported and provided documentation to GAO that in December 2025 it developed an option in HR Connect, a tool that provides employees with access to HR support, for employees to provide specific feedback on SSA's processes for requesting name changes. The request page links to the name change request procedures document and provides a specific mechanism for employees to provide feedback on the name change process. The ability of SSA employees and managers to submit feedback can support improvements to SSA's overall name change process.
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| Department of State | The Secretary of State should create a specific mechanism for collecting employee feedback to improve employees' experiences with the whole name change process. (Recommendation 6) |
State did not agree or disagree with our recommendation. In January 2026, State was reviewing its current feedback mechanisms and any changes that may be needed.
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