| Comment Number: | OL-10500463 |
| Received: | 2/17/2005 11:03:58 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:
Funding: Under the General Schedule, 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 salaries and bonuses will be funded in the future? In the Federal Aviation Administration, many employees have not had a pay increase in two years because the pay schedule did not increase. While the GS system went up by over 7% in the last two years, they got no increase. Pay: With the new pay system, which DoD calls “pay for performance,” the amount of a worker's salary and pay increase will depend almost completely on the judgment of the manager. Furthermore, the managers above your supervisor can change ratings if they wish. 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. If there is a problem, you won’t be given a fair appeal process to challenge the performance and pay decisions. Reductions in Force (RIF): The new rules state that if RIFs occur, the decision of whether to keep an employee will depend first on his/her performance appraisals, which are issued by supervisors. Those employees with the best ratings will be kept. Those with lesser ratings will be let go. Only in the case of a tie between employees will a worker’s seniority be considered. Before NSPS, your years of dedication to DoD counted a lot in the event of a RIF. Now it is clear that DoD doesn’t care about commitment anymore. Additionally, veterans lose their RIF rights--is this any way to treat the people who have served America in both peacetime and war???? Civilian Deployment: Federal employees could be assigned anywhere in the world, even into a war zone, with little or no notice. This will make it difficult for working parents who care for a family and have personal obligations at home. Is it too much to ask that workers be guaranteed sufficient notice to plan for such assignments? Are all civilians going to become just like the military? I already served my country for 5 years in the USAF. Work Rules, Schedules, and Overtime Rotation: NSPS will weaken unions and the rights gained through union contracts, such as flex days, advance notice of work schedules, and overtime rotations. If an employee is disciplined by a supervisor, there will be very little chance of overturning the punishment. 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 will 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. In conclusion, this is a bad deal for America!!!!!!!!!