| Comment Number: | EM-019852 |
| Received: | 3/11/2005 6:52:12 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 11, 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. I wish this message be sent to both DoD and my representatives in Congress. I have worked for DoD for almost 6 years as a civilian and was in the Air Force for over eight years before that. 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 and many are Veterans of our Armed Forces. Most of us wish to continue in serving our Nation and our "Defenders of Freedom". I believe that mistreating the employees will hurt the agency?s mission. I am very upset by NSPS. This system will change the way my fellow workers and I 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. I know how the Government works and it cannot be run like "corporate America". 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 means 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 for deployments works well. The reason many us decided to become DOD Civilians is because we got tired of not seeing our families while we were deployed in the military, a sacrifice we were happy to make then BUT NOT NOW. 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. WE Firefighters who put our lives on the line everyday for people who are in need and the people we protect stand to suffer greatly from us not concentrating on them because we are afraid of LOSING our jobs. We are there to help people in their time of need. We do not need to be competing against our own Firefighter Brothers and Sisters. We are a TEAM, a FAMILY and DEPEND on each other to make sure we go home after our scheduled tour of duty. Many of us work 24, 48 or 72 hours in a row to protect our soldiers and their families as well as civilians both on and off the installations we protect. We as a Country do not need to re-invent the wheel, we need to Improve upon it and make it better. We should not mess with the things that are not broken but fix the things that are. We need to work smarter not harder. We know that the hiring process is slow, so why not fix it instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a new system that doe not seem like it will even ever work. The Secretary of Defense has his own little agenda and is not concerned with the workers who make him shine everyday. Nobody has ever come to us and asked what issues WE have or what WE are concerned about or what WE think needs to be changed and what solutions WE may have. 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,