| Comment Number: | EM-019888 |
| Received: | 3/12/2005 12:44:43 AM |
| 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 12, 2005 DoD NSPS Comments , DoD NSPS Comments: I am writing to express concerns about changes to the work rules by 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 am sending this fax to the DoD leaders and my Federal Legislators. I have worked for the DoD for over 19 years. During that time, I came to believe the agency considered fairness to be a defining principle. I am angry that, as I approach retirement, the government has developed proposals that seem to treat the employees, who help defend our country, as the enemy. I have always felt that the DoD leadership trusted our employees to work hard and be committed to our mission. I believe that mistreating the employees will hurt the employees confidence in our leadership. I believe the NSPS will bring unfairness into the way workers are paid, evaluated, promoted, fired, scheduled, and treated. I am very concerned that this system will cause DoD leadership to be influenced by favoritism, rather than serving 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 poor 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 Calling itself ?pay for performance?, the new patronage pay system determines the amount of a worker's salary 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 trust and 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 may 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, the fairness of an impartial appeal system will disappear. 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 can also mean that abusive managers will have the power to 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 elected a civilian job. We did not enlist in the military. A volunteer system military means just that. 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. Many years ago, Civil Service was developed to overcome the abuses that government workers were experiencing in the work place. Almost provision by provision, NSPS represents the potential of a return to the abuses in pre-Civil Service days. It takes away any labor-management balance and replaces it with vulnerable workers. Some argue NSPS will reward workers for performance; I add the parable that this is true as long as an employee remains in good favor. You know that that is the way favoritism works. I urge you to keep your part of our implied labor management bargain and not allow your Federal workers to be treated in this manner Sincerely,