| Comment Number: | EM-023353 |
| Received: | 3/15/2005 1:43:55 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 15, 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 my representatives in Congress. I can not find the reason or reasons to change a system that have for years. Most DoD employees work hard and are committed. I believe that changing the systems that were agreed upon, previuosly, will hurt the agency?s mission. I am very upset by what I've read about the NSPS. This system will change the way workers are paid, evaluated, promoted, fired, scheduled, and treated. These rules would create a division among employees, and cause managers to be influenced by favoritism rather than serving the civil concerns of 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, and will cause fluctuating rates of pay increases that will confuse any individual that works for this system. We all know that the managers will base their decision on their perspective of what they see in front of them, and not what occurs around them. They will not make a righteous decision on who deserves a higher raise than whom. 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, employees will feel uneasy and confused about the NSPS system of pay raises. ?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. Short notice planning will cause headaches as far as making any future planning outside of work. This will also make it extremely difficult for working parents to care for their children and family. All this 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 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 all know that being away from family is very difficult, but it feels worse when you are forced to leave them. We signed up for a civilian job. We did not enlist in the military. If I wanted to be in active duty force, I would have remained in the AirForce. I feel that the NSPS is changing a system that has built morale and comraderie among workers, and inhibit that ability to fulfill the mission. 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,