| Comment Number: | EM-019762 |
| Received: | 3/10/2005 3:37:14 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), were printed in the Federal Register on February 14, 2005. This message will be sent to both DoD and my representatives in Congress. For over 28 years I have been serving our country. This time is split between my time with the United States Air Force and working civil service for our Department of Defense (DON). I am angry that these proposals seem to treat the veterans and/or employees who have volunteered to help defend our country as the enemy. Most DoD employees work hard and are committed. We have alot of bright and intelligent individuals within DOD and 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. 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. 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 be a veteran of our armed services and just as proud of my service as a civilian employee for DOD. But as a civilian employee of DOD I do not believe we should be sent to the war zone. The number reason being that as a civilian I/we would be placing our military in danger. Within a war zone it is the military's job to fight for our country, not babysit those civilians the goverment has sent in harms way. The choice of deployment should be the choice of the individual not the government. Today?s volunteer system works and I have seen plenty of civilian employees (including myself) travel because they are dedicated to their job and country - NOT because a higher authority has told them they had no choice. America is at war. We are fighting for democracy abroad. But the regulations are an attack on workers? basic rights. Unfortunately if NSPS takes effect, our defense workers will divert their attention 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 and with these rules our soldier's can continue to serve our country knowing that the civilian employees are here and willing to serve them. If NSPS takes effect our soldier's will loose their support from the civilian sector of DOD. Is this truly what our government wants? To have our military stand out in the cold with no one to watch their backs - no one to fix their equipment - no one to design weapons and/or equipment using the latest technology? . Sincerely,