| Comment Number: | EM-019851 |
| Received: | 3/13/2005 12:26:26 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 13, 2005 DoD NSPS Comments , DoD NSPS Comments: I .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 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. 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. Civilians will no longer be receiving annual pay raises as their Military counterparts are, so their career progression is now stagnated, or eliminated. 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? I just can?t believe that the U.S. Government would allow the DOD to be exempt from current laws that were put in place to level the playing field and ensure fair and equitable treatment for all. Management and civilian alike. Should I be brushing up on my Russian? Did we become for all intent and purposes a police state? Any legislation that is written so obviously one sided is inherently flawed, and open to abuses. After all, where are the checks and balances that our countries governing process was founded? Our forefathers were very careful to ensure that these checks were in place after fleeing the tyranny of England. Why are we abandoning them now, and selling our national integrity for a quick fix to a manning problem? The fix to this problem is to use the guard and reserve to fill these billets. We have already paid them, trained them, and supplied them with benefits. Now it is time for them to justify the faith that we have entrusted them with. The answer is certainly not to sell your civilian employees into slavery ?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, short notice, or even scheduling them to work 79 hours in a week since the overtime pay has also changed. 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. Public employees are proud to serve our country, but they are also responsible for caring for their families and personal obligations, and are not protected from certain financial obligations as the military is. America is at war. We are fighting for democracy abroad. I am appalled that my wife would be considered not only deployable, but also expendable. She has received no training for this environment, NBC, mobility, or anything else. She would also not be afforded protection under the UCMJ. This would put her at risk legally in any country she was deployed to. These 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. American civilians have a long history of working to support the military during times of war, going back all the way to the revolutionary war. We need work rules that preserve fairness, serve the American people, and respect the rights of Defense Department workers. I served in the USAF for 23 years, and fully understand the concept of short manning, but if more manpower is needed, then the draft should be re-instituted, as it is you are only drafting the civilian DOD workers, regardless of what you call it. Sincerely,