| Comment Number: | EM-001369 |
| Received: | 2/23/2005 4:34:27 PM |
| Subject: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| Title: | National Security Personnel System |
| CFR Citation: | 5 CFR Chapter XCIX and Part 9901 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
February 23, 2005 DoD NSPS Comments , DoD NSPS Comments: I am writing to express my concerns about changes to work rules in the Department of Defense (DoD). The proposed regulations, known as the National Security Personnel System (NSPS), were printed in the Federal Register on February 14, 2005. As you are my representative in Congress I am directly appealing to you for action to slow down this radical change to existing personnel rules and regulations that have served this nation for the last twenty-seven plus years. I have worked for DoD for over 25 years and I am angry that these proposals seem to treat the employees who help defend our country as the enemy. I truly believe that most DoD employees work hard and are committed. Moreover, I believe that mistreating the employees will hurt the agency's mission. I am very upset by NSPS as it's written. This system will change the way workers are paid, evaluated, promoted, fired, scheduled, and treated. These rules would create a system in which federal managers are influenced by favoritism rather than serving the civil concerns of the American people. I do want Annual Pay Raises. Under the General Schedule and the Federal Wage Scale (FWS), employee pay was clear. It was funded by Congress and could not be taken away by some lower Escalon management official. However, NSPS will take away this certainty. Salaries and bonuses are funded by DoD. In the past as recently as just last year DoD did not fund its awards program. Given the agency's miserable record on this issue, how can employees feel confident that our salaries and bonuses will be funded in the future? I don't want a "Friend of the Supervisor" Pay System. With the new patronage pay system, which DoD calls "pay for performance," the amount of a worker's salary will depend almost completely on the personal judgment of his or her supervisor/manager. This system will force workers to compete with one another for pay raises, which will destroy teamwork, increase conflict among employees, and reward short-term outcomes. There is no guarantee that even the best workers will receive a pay raise or that the pay offered will be fair or competitive. This system will create a situation in which workers are in conflict with one another and afraid to speak out about harassment, violations of the law, and workplace safety problems. Furthermore, there will be no impartial appeal system to assure that everyone is treated fairly. I do want Schedules and Overtime to be reasonable and based on a shared obligation and responsibility. NSPS will allow managers to schedule employees to work without sufficient advance notice of schedule changes. This will make it extremely difficult for working parents to care for their children and family. It will also mean that abusive managers could harass employees with bad schedules or short notice of a change in scheduling. Overtime rotations can be canceled, which means that employees may not be able to plan adequately for childcare and other important responsibilities. Civilian Deployment should be something that is a shared responsibility and obligation back up with sufficient planning to minimize hardships and adverse situations to the extent possible. Under the proposed NSPS, Federal employees could be assigned anywhere in the world, even into a war zone, with little or no notice. I am proud to serve my country but I am also responsible for caring for my family and my personal obligations at home. I served in the military and as a civilian employee; I believed that a civilian job meant that I would not be involuntarily assigned to duties in hostile regions in the world. Today's volunteer system works well and the President recently stated that the all-volunteer Army is the preferred model. If it works for the Army, why won't it work for DoD civilian employees? Dose the President know something the Secretary doesn't? The President says that America is at war and that we are fighting for democracy abroad. However, his proposed new personnel system (NSPS) is an attack on workers' basic rights. Furthermore, NSPS will divert the attention of defense workers from the soldiers' welfare to protecting themselves from abuse on the job. Is that what we want in a new personnel system? I urge you to act now to insure that DoD rethink this proposal as well as allow employee advocacy groups to fully participate in the process as equal partners in reshaping any new personnel system. We need work rules that preserve fairness, serve the American people, and respect the rights of Defense Department workers and NSPS falls way short of achieving any of these goals. Sincerely, Sincerely,