| Comment Number: | EM-019746 |
| Received: | 3/9/2005 4:26:26 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 9, 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. This system is not about fairness. If it were, we, and the union, would have been given adequate time to review and comment on a complete plan. Congress ought to ask for explanations and explore in greater depth the whole issue of civil service reform. Because these personnel decisions involve so many people, and could have such national impact, lawmakers should consider stepping in to help define what performance criteria mean, to preserve a meaningful appeals process and to ensure that unions stay involved in government employee affairs, at least when there is no reason to bar them. I have worked for DoD for many years. I am angry that these proposals seem to treat the employees who help defend our country as the enemy. Most DoD employees work hard and are committed. I believe that mistreating the employees will hurt the agency?s mission. I am very upset by NSPS. 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. If this so-called flexible mission-driven system of human resource management stays in existence, I?ll be gone as soon as I can and Mr. Rumsfeld, you are going to miss me and most of the workforce that is as dedicated ? to the soldier ? as I am. I?ve worked for DoD since I was in high school, recently celebrated 30 years employment, and can honestly say I love my job. I can?t believe that you don?t understand that if you want a flexible mission-driven system, you need to eliminate most of the bureaucracy that prevents us from doing our jobs quicker. Instead, you?re going to take away our job security and any hope for a comfortable retirement. 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. 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? ?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. Our government leaders and DoD should be setting the example of how an employee, to include soldiers, should be treated fairly. Instead, this appears they?ve provided us with a personnel plan that falls into the IT?S ALL ABOUT ME? category that will pit one employee against another. It also fosters an environment where individuals will withhold information to make themselves look better than another. Who ultimately gets hurt in the long run? Our soldiers! This plan is sticking those of us that have remained dedicated to our soldiers for many years and especially the new young workforce with no job security or hope for a comfortable retirement. Missing from the plan ? the core values & principles of civil service that are going to be retained have not been identified. There are no employee representatives. This plan wants to eliminate union involvement and influence. 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. I read the following statement in the summary, ?the department sometimes uses military personnel/ contractors when civilian employees could have and should have been the right answer. The way I see and hear it is 1) there are civilians called LARs (logistic assistance representatives) that signed up to be right there with our military both CONUS and OCONUS (wartime and peacetime, it doesn?t matter), 2) I know many civilians, to include but hardly limited to veterans, in many logistic disciplines that gladly volunteer to go to Iraq or wherever they?re needed, and most importantly 3) the military has been cut soooo low by our ?leaders? that our poor soldiers are having to do double duty and that?s a sad fact. 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. What?s the definition of significant participation in total force effectiveness? This is what I found when I looked up effectiveness in a dictionary: n. A soldier or a piece of military equipment that is ready for combat. The DoD workforce has always done their best to make sure this is true, I wonder if DoD leadership can say the same. I have the pleasure of working with and learning from the most dedicated workforce, at the Rock Island Arsenal, that I have ever seen or encountered elsewhere!! Again, if you want better efficiency, cut the bureaucracy. You cannot say you?re concerned about my rights when you haven?t given me a reasonable amount of time to review this incomplete plan (less than 60 pages)!! Like I said, you?re going to miss me. Sincerely,