| Comment Number: | EM-019867 |
| Received: | 3/11/2005 4:32:18 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 am writing 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 highly angry with the proposals as they seem to treat the employees who help defend our country as the enemy. I fought to defend the rights of the general populous of this country, and now my own rights are coming under fire from the very people who sent me to foreign lands in the name of ?freedom?. Most DoD employees work hard and are committed. 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. Civilian Deployment I could be assigned anywhere in the world, even into a war zone, with little or no notice. I separated from active duty military service after six honorable years of service to facilitate being a father to my children and husband to my wife. Now the Department of Defense is again asking me to forsake my family and place an added stressor on my family by telling me there is a likelihood of deployment again. Once more I am being asked to choose between my family and my career. I could be in a hazardous war fighting zone and risking my life for a war or conflict I may or may not agree with. I would gladly and honorably lay down my life, as our forefathers did to secure our freedom, for the purpose of the preservation of the freedoms in this country I live under if enemies were threatening to overtake the United States of America....but I would not go to a war zone again and risk my life to battle people and countries that are not actively attempting to overthrow our government. I served my country in the military and went wherever they told me to go, but I no longer consider this an option for my family and me. That is like the government telling a fast food clerk to go to Iraq because they want a MacDonalds for the troops, and not giving them a choice about this potentially life threatening decision! The country already has a problem with father?s being their for their children, now the DoD is FORCING civilian families to separate, and possibly not return home due to loss of life for someone else?s country. Why is the D.o.D. willing to sacrifice my right to be a father to my family? Schedules and Overtime NSPS will allow managers to schedule employees such as myself to work without sufficient advance notice of schedule changes. This creates a strain on both my family and my financial status as I will now be unable to schedule child care for my daughters. It is a form of harassment against working parents because it caters to singles that have no children and are able to drop everything. It will also allow an avenue for abusive managers that they could use to harass employees with bad schedules or short notice. We are being mandated to forsake our own families for fear of reprisal, and having the right to be responsible parents stripped away from us! 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. America is at war. We are fighting for democracy abroad. But 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. We need work rules that preserve fairness, serve the American people, and respect the rights of Defense Department workers. Sincerely,