| Comment Number: | EM-010828 |
| Received: | 3/7/2005 2:22:53 AM |
| 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:
March 7, 2005 DoD NSPS Comments , DoD NSPS Comments: I write 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. This message will be sent to both DoD and my representatives in Congress. As a rule, not an exception?management positions are obtained ?Good Ol Boy? politics. A requirement in our area on the appraisal forms is that you must be an ?Enthusiastic Follower?. These types usually are incapable of leadership qualities. As a rule with the rare exception of a limited, (And dwindling) number of supervisors. We production workers do not receive management support in any form. Production is accomplished by working ?Around? not with management support. (?Lead, Follow or get the hell out of the way!?) The ?High Productivity? these individuals have exhibited is based solely on Quantity not Quality or workman-ship. The supervisors are impressed only if you are also willing to sacrifice your integrity and the integrity of your work to make him look good. This attitude currently costs millions of dollars in waste and condemned or unsafe products being produced for our military. Serious ethical misconduct and lack of integrity runs rampant in our current management structure today, your ?New? program only reinforces this. This results in an overwhelming lack of respect or trust in supervisors in the vast majority of organizations. This lack of integrity, trustworthiness and ethics is something that cannot be cured by a 1 Hr ethics class every year. It is a deeply rooted personality disorder that is a requirement of management. You should be able to trust and respect management. This is not the case throughout government. In a ?Wing Man? Respect I would probably feel safer having my enemy at my back than have a current or future manager with your ?Improved?? program tools backing me. You are placing powerful tools in the hands of supervisors that lack the integrity, competence or ethics to handle them in a fair or ethical manner. I would not trust management with my dog, let alone critical war fighting equipment, or the power you are placing into their hands. The lack of accountability and integrity that has made EEO and the Unions a requirement in the past will only be strengthened by your incompetence & inability to create a program better than this one. ?Friends & family? 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 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. Schedules and Overtime 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. Overtime rotations can be canceled, which means that employees may not be able to plan adequately for childcare and other important responsibilities. Civilian Deployment 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. We signed up for a civilian job. We did not enlist in the military. Today?s volunteer system works well. America is at war. We are fighting for democracy abroad. But the regulations are 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. I urge you to force DoD to rethink this proposal. We need work rules that preserve fairness, serve the American people, and respect the rights of Defense Department workers. Sincerely,