| Comment Number: | EM-017476 |
| Received: | 3/10/2005 12:12:15 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:
March 10, 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) This message will be sent to both DoD and my representatives in Congress. It will be very tough to make anything, but judgement decisions based on lesson learned without being provided any details about ?pay banding.? I cannot make any informed comments when you are leaving me in the dark as to your proposal. My comments and concerns: It should be equal pay for equal work, not who is the manager?s favorite employee. This will only going to cause hate and discontent within the workforce. You can simplify job descriptions without NSPS. This could cause an involuntary demotions depending on how the pay bands are set up. This could take me from the top of my current grade to a lower position in the established career group, which would cause an adverse effect on my pay and retirement. With the broad range of duties, I will not know what is really expected of me in turn create an adverse action with a reduction in pay. My job could change from day to day. I have not seen nor read any rationale from DoD justifying these changes. I cannot understand how my classification or pay has affected national security. I expect that when this is all said and done, everyone will have a job description that states ?deployment.? I suppose the next suggestionb is we contract out our military!!!! I'm guessing this will expand my duties and responsibilities without any extra pay. What will happen to Comp time?? Training would be a major part to change the classification. I cannot receive any training now. It?s either because of a lack of funds or time or availability to get into the classes due to poor scheduling. Our pay has always been based on our performance. If my performance is not up to expectations, step increases could always be held back. Management has always had the option of not promoting me if I was not doing what was expected of me. Why change from what has always worked. Management has always been able to reward high performers with a monetary award, time off award, QSI, etc. We don?t need NSPS for this! Teamwork will go out the window because this will pit one employee against the other. This will only hurt the mission at a time when the soldiers need us the most. Instead of everyone helping one another, they will do everything possible to make everyone else look bad. This will soon be politicized and if your not in the click you could get the-well left behind. There will only be so much money to go around that will be placed into the pay pool. The end result could be that even the high performers will not be compensated. This reminds me how HMO's got started. Nobody is going to want to work for DoD because I expect to be treated like a human being and not some sort of robot. You will see mass retirements when this is implemented. Maybe this is what the current administration wants-more loss of expertise and expierence and contract out will no expertise, but a high dollar figure. We will have a two-tier pay system ? maybe even 3 or 4 tiers. I can foresee where a new employee will be paid even more than I am with my _20__ years of federal employment. This will not be of any benefit to the mission, employees, morale, or teamwork. I see or hear of no guarantee that I will not lose pay as a result of conversion to NSPS. I don?t receive my performance appraisal on time now. The proposed regulation does not make it clear to ensure that I will get appraisals on time and receive a pay increase if my appraisal is at least acceptable. There are no assurances that pay pools administered at the Department of the Army level (if that is where they will be administered from) will ensure monies at the local level. We all know how little dollars flow down. It would be unfair to withhold a pay grade or step increase from employees for a situation they have no control over. My ratings already add years to my seniority during a RIF. Performance should never be placed above seniority. I am a dedicated employee, and my rights should not be held back because of favoritism. We need to be able to grieve/arbitrate our ratings if they are not fair. The system is too subjective to allow for one persons opinion of someone to have that great of an impact on someone?s livelihood. I can be the best employee in my agency; yet, the manager can rate me on my behavior/attitude or how I handle my private affairs. What does that have to do with anything if I?m doing my job? I could have a bad attitude yet I can still do great work or have a good attitude and do a poor performance. This has been proven by our leaders. The Gov't civilians have been under paid for similar work/responsibility than the private sector, but you want to contract out which has been proven extremly costly, but want to cut our pay, benefits, COLA, aand retirement-for what??? Premium pay should not be tampered with. Now that we are at war, workload has never been higher. Will we be expected to work longer hours with no pay benefitsto perform the work. This is needed in order to make deliveries/schedules for the customers. Our customers are the soldiers. I believe that DOD is trying to save money because of the war at my expenses once again. It seems that every time the government has problems with the budget, the federal employees are always the scapegoats. If this goes into effect as it is being proposed, I do not see the government as a good place to work. With the ageing workforce, recruitment actions will be nearly impossible. DOD is already trying to hire employees as emergency essential and most of the individuals are turning the job offers down because they do not want to be deployed. That's why I thought we had a military and contractors. If we had this proposal back in the 90?s when all the agencies were really hurting for work, I would not have received a pay raise for 10 years. My pay should not be based on how the organization performs. The basis for pay/pay administration are too subjective. My pay could change every year and I would not be able to plan my budget for my kids college, home, vehicles or life. If you take away premium pay, no one will work overtime and mission will not be met. You are not maximizing my opportunities for me and my Union to contribute to the accomplishments of the mission. Instead, you are proposing to eliminate them. I can only imagine how much this concept will cost the taxpayer for this design and administration of it. The money would be better spent on equipping the soldiers. How much overhead is going to be created since nobody has figured out all the details of it? Will we have contractors deploying this process or will we have to borrow money from foreign nationals!!! The General Schedule is transparent and objective. I do not see any reason for change. Seniority and years of service should have an affect on my pay. If the current system were always properly funded, we would not have any problems. A year - long probationary period is more than enough time for anyone to endure. If a manager cannot figure out by then if they want to keep that individual or not, then the manager should be removed. This will go back to the days of hiring all the relatives. I disagree with the idea that if I get promoted to a different position that I will have to serve another probationary period. This is ridiculous and is oozing with ignorance. You also want to be able to hire non-citizens into DoD. I would think that the national security will be affected by that proposal-do you think!! Veteran?s preference is going to be retained but greatly reduced. If they can only compete within their competitive level, bump and retreat rights are basically gone. Competitive areas should remain as they are. If you narrow the areas that are to be affected, my rights to remain employed will be virtually eliminated. My would anyone's employment be based solely on one person?s opinion of me-especailly after 20 years of exceptional performance and then pay reduced because of a disagreement. Seniority should always come before performance ratings. DoD wants to forget about all the years of dedicated service that I have performed. If I am unjustly separated during a RIF, I should be able to appeal to the MSPB. If I choose to relocate and PPP is not handled correctly, I should also be able to appeal that decision. Probationary periods should only befor new employees and the same for everyone, not set for each individual employee. Two of the biggest problems with the hiring process are: background security checks and the time it takes to obtain approvals by the chain of command. I have not read anywhere that these proposals will change anything to speed up the process. DoD does not seem to understand the differences between military and civilians. I did not hire in to be deployed. I, as a civilian, was hired to support the military. If you are going to remove the career-conditional status, there will be less opportunity for placement during RIFs. We will lose corporate knowledge as longer standing employees are separated DoD will be the prosecutor, judge, and jury without allowing a neutral third party review. The current system should remain in effect. If I am not performing at an acceptable level, my manager should make me aware of that fact. Once I am notified, I should be allowed an Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) for 120 days. Then, if my performance does not improve, management would then have the right to propose an adverse action. I should never be disallowed to see or use my Union representative. The system should be that all employees are entitled to due process and fairness which this proposal will destroy-I thought that was the law for all. Mission requirements are very important, but the principles of ?just cause? are equally important. My only recourse for disciplinary actions will be either EEO or my Congressman. When was the last time you heard of an disgruntled employee get a chance to see his Congressman. You are making it impossible for any DoD employee to have any type of justice at all. The proposal that MSPB or arbitrators can only mitigate a penalty if it is wholly without justification is totally unreasonable. Fraud, waste, and abuse will rum rampant in DoD because everyone will be too afraid to say anything. If we have any checks and balances now ? they will totally disappear. I am not the enemy! I am providing a service to the warfighter (soldier) and would like to be able to concentrate on that. Instead of doing that, I will have to spend my time worrying about my job. This will reduce the burden of proof ? standards ? for management in adverse actions against any employee. Congress mandated the employees be treated fairly and afforded the protections of due processes, yet, your proposals all but eliminate that. I cannot ever remember when a decision from an arbitrator or the MSPB has ever jeopardized national security and defense. If these proposals are implemented ?as is,? I will become a second-class citizen because all of my rights will be removed. A Gov't employee will be looked at like a smoker-TRASH. National level bargaining agreement might be good for some things, but there will always be local issues that need to be dealt with at each agency. One size does not fit all! The Union and the employees have always done what had to be accomplished to order to support the soldiers. I cannot ever remember a time when the Negotiated Agreement or the Union has been a hindrance. The concept of the National Security Labor Relations Board (NSLRB) is not going to be fair nor impartial. DoD will be the prosecutor, judge and jury. The Secretary of Defense will appoint three members to the panel, so I cannot ever foresee where they will rule against their boss. Where is this country headed for Rights-I thought we were fighting against this type of dictatorship. When management and the Union could not reach an agreement, they could settle it through an outside neutral third party, the FLRA. Now you are proposing that it would be settled through the NSLRB, which would rule in management?s favor every time. DoD is not following the intent of the law passed by Congress! The Union has requested the use of local arbitrators in order to speed up the process, but management refuses. It would also lower the expense for both parties. DoD has not allowed the Unions to be an active participant in this process. These proposals are all DoD?s and none of it is input from the Unions. Union should be able to negotiate any matters concerning appropriate arrangements for affected employees. Unions should not lose the right to participate in formal discussions between bargaining unit employees and managers. If management is going to set and change conditions of employment, I want my Union allowed to negotiate any such changes. If my pay, including base and locality pay, and any annual increase is going to be changed, management and the Union should negotiate any proposed changes. Your proposals are unacceptable and contrary to law. DoD is not and should not be above the law. This could cause an involuntary demotions depending on how the pay bands are set up. These rules would create a system in which federal managers are influenced by favoritism rather than serving the civil concerns of the American people. Annual Pay Raises Under the General Schedule and FWS, employee pay was clear. It was funded by Congress and could not be taken away. However, NSPS will take away this certainty. ?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 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. 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. Sincerely,