| Comment Number: | OL-10501507 |
| Received: | 2/25/2005 2:34:18 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:
My concerns about changes to work rules in the Department of Defense (DoD). The proposed regulations, National Security Personnel System (NSPS), in the Federal Register on February 14, 2005. I have worked for DoD for a number of years. I am angry and very concern that these proposals seem to treat the employees who help defend our country as the enemy. As an DoD employee, I know how hard I work and I am committed. I am very upset by NSPS. This system will change the way we are paid, evaluated, promoted, fired, scheduled, and treated. These rules would create a system in which federal managers are influenced by favoritism rather than serving the civil concerns of the American people. The good old boy game will be played bigger then ever. 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. 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 allowing managers could harass employees with bad schedules or short notice. 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. My husband is 100% diabeled Vietnam Veteran, I can not jsut pack up and take off. We signed up for a civilian job. We did not enlist in the military. I strongly 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.