| Comment Number: | EM-019897 |
| Received: | 3/14/2005 6:36:52 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 14, 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 to my representatives in Congress. I have diligently and faithfully worked for DoD for the last 25 + years. I am very angry that these proposals seem to treat us, the employees who help defend our country, as the enemy. Most DoD employees work diligently, with conviction, high ethics and are committed to our chosen career and the DoD mission. I believe that mistreating us, the civil service employees, will drastically hurt the agency?s needed mission. I am very upset by NSPS. This system will change the way workers are paid, evaluated, promoted, scheduled, treated and retained or fired. These new rules will create a system in which federal managers are influenced by favoritism rather than by serving the civil concerns of the American tax paying people and all people of the world we live in. 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? - the "Good Ole Boy" 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 and how well the employee kisses --s and not how good their actual performance is. This system will force workers to compete with one another for pay raises and for brown-nosing time with the boss, which will destroy teamwork, increase problems and conflicts among employees and reward wrong, unethical practices . There is no guarantee that the best, most desireable employees will ever receive a pay raise or that the pay offered will be fair or competitive with non-government sources. This system will create a situation in which workers are in conflict with one another and are afraid to speak out about harassment, violations of the law and workplace health and 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 without sufficient fair advance notice of schedule changes. This will make it extremely difficult for working parents to care for their children or family. It will also mean that abusive managers could harass employees with bad schedules on short notice. Overtime rotations can be canceled, which means that employees will not be able to plan adequately or fairly for childcare and / or other important responsibilities of life. 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 and it's citizens but I am also responsible for caring for my family and my personal obligations at home. We signed up for a civilian capacity career. We did not enlist in the military. Today?s volunteer military system is working well without having to force civilians into deployment options. America is at war. We are fighting for democracy abroad. But the NSPS regulations are an attack on us, the DoD workers?, basic rights, careers and quality of life and family. Furthermore, NSPS will divert the attention of dedicated 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,