| Comment Number: | EM-019768 |
| Received: | 3/9/2005 8:11:32 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. I believe that changing the way people earn their keep is not going to promote a good working environment. allowing the mangers the choice of who to promote, who gets raises, and who gets fired during rifs is a very bad idea. alot of people are going to be unhappy and you are going to get less than quality work. people are gonna hire their friends and family, even if they have nothing to offer the shop. the government is gonna lose alot of money by switching to this type of system. right now, you have to, pretty much, earn your next promotion. not with this new system, just take your boss golfing once or twice a month and you'll be an assistant boss in no time. how does this improve on what we have right now? I am very upset by NSPS. 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? you all are gonna lose alot of possible talent ith the pay scale you are going to. i graduated in the top percent of my technical college for aviation repair. we started with thirty two people and when graduation day rolled around, there were five or six of us that actually completed the 14 month program as scheduled. i graduated with a 98.3 gpa and the only reason i went to this school was to be able to get a job at the corpus christi army depot as a dod civilian employee. i did this because i knew if i could get hired, then i wouldn't have to worry about my families future. i knew that if i could get on with the government, we would be ok. the way stuff is going now, i am not so sure about our 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 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,