| Comment Number: | EM-017585 |
| Received: | 3/14/2005 10:46:32 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 14, 2005 DoD NSPS Comments , DoD NSPS Comments: This letter is in regard to the proposal of the new Federal Employee pay system restructuring. When I first heard of this, the law had already been passed. I now know that this Proposed NSPS pay system is will indeed go through. I am not disagreeing with the whole system completely, but there are major errors that do need extreme consideration or changes before this law completely starts under way. My first issue of concern is the loss of our annual cost of living supplement (COLA). To me this seems unfair. I am sure you are aware of this just as much as I am, but the cost of living only increases yearly. I have not ever heard of the cost of living getting less in an area. It may plateau for a while, but will never drop. The yearly cost of living raise is paramount to our existence. I live and work on Cape Cod, Ma and because I live in such a high cost of living environment there is hardly the chance of myself ever becoming a homeowner in this area. By taking away the cost of living raise you are eliminating ones ability to afford to live in the surrounding community. Instead, your great employees are forced to live in areas where the cost of living is less. So that means your employees live a great distance away from work and are forced to commute great distances to and from everyday, and have to live in homes that surely do not live up to the expectations of something you would want to live in. What this also means is less time with their families, more time away from home, and more stress. Talk about the American dream; sure it is. Now I am not complaining about my job because I am one of many very fortunate individuals who can help support the country by performing the jobs we do. But if this means I can?t afford where I live due to massive over inflation rates, many people like myself will unfortunately not be able to continue to deal with these problems and would be forced to find work elsewhere. The next issue that I would like to talk about is giving the power of raises to someone?s supervisor. Now when I first heard of this proposal I thought this was a great idea, because I am a hard working employee and I do believe that myself and other hard workers would benefit from this. My first problem was already obvious; we think we are excellent workers and we are doing above and beyond, but what if that is not noticed. It would be hard to believe that someone doing a great job at his or her place of employment would not get recognized, but what if it didn?t. This system leaves a great margin for error in the system. Now I know everyone will be completely fair with this new system and nothing will be taking advantage of. Sure! This is only true in a false reality that one might be living in. The truth of the matter is there will be people taking advantage of this system for many reasons, whether it is a prejudiced opinion or a personal conflict. As unlikely as this sounds, THIS WILL HAPPEN!!! One major example is what happens when a supervisor has a problem with an individual on a personal basis, not work related, that individual will suffer completely, and now it?s his word against the supervisors word. In all reality, the individual will be the one who suffers due to this. So now that he didn?t get his raises this year that he may have gotten normally, the individual is forced to tighten their budget or get a second job. This is a career! There should be no reason why that should ever happen. I strongly urge everyone concerned to seriously consider what you are doing to your federal work force and please make the appropriate changes necessary. Just put yourself in our shoes for a little bit. I know that this does not affect you, but it makes a great difference to us. Sincerely,