| Comment Number: | EM-022919 |
| Received: | 3/16/2005 4:50:43 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 16, 2005 DoD NSPS Comments , DoD NSPS Comments: I have worked for the Department of the Army for 21 years, many of those years in management. I am concerned about the National Security Personnel System and its potential impact on the overall organization. These proposals treat the employees who help defend our country as an enemy. My observation is that those around me work hard and are dedicated to their job and to their country. To a man, they perceive these changes as a slap in the face for the work they have done and are doing. No one--I repeat, no one--supports the initiative. It has been forced down our throats in what will surely be recorded in future management texts as a worst-case example on managing change. These rules seem designed to pit employee against employee rather than to foster the team spirit that is needed to accomplish more with less. Moreover, the system will encourage people to take short cuts to "look good" in the short term at the expense of the overall mission and organization. Not only are those currently in the organization discouraged by the NSPS, it is having exactly opposite the intended effect: Bright young workers who were considering government service are now looking elsewhere because, as one person put it, "We will have to work in Iraq for minimum wage." To be blunt, the DOD has a miserable record concerning employee pay. Only through Congress were employees given somewhat fair increases. NSPS will pull the rug out of that system. In short, NSPS does away with decades of a fair, stable work force under the Civil Service system and reintroduces the corrupt "friends with the boss" pay system that was a disgrace at the beginning of the 20th century. A new name, ?pay for performance? does not disguise that this is an old dog that is up to the same old tricks. This system will create a situation in which employees are afraid to speak out about harassment, violations of the law, and workplace safety problems. Furthermore, the system's appeal processes are a sham, and should be an embarrassment to a civilized society. The NSPS also undoes any good that came from such measures as the family leave act, as it will allow managers to schedule employees to work without sufficient advance notice of schedule changes. This kind of system harms the family and clearly offers a way for supervisors to "pick on" their unfavored employees. Most distressing to many of my co-workers is that employees, regardless of their personal situations, could be assigned into a war zone with no notice. To use the fact that America is at war as the excuse to take away the rights of workers is nothing short of pathetic. As we fight for fairness overseas, our basic rights are being taken away here. 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 workers. Sincerely,