| Comment Number: | OL-10502150 |
| Received: | 3/1/2005 9:40:10 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:
I do not think the NSPS is a good change for Federal employees. The NSPS will result in most employees loosing pay, reduce confidence and a sense of fairness in the Federal pay system and make Federal employment less attractive to current and future employees. Most employees will loose pay under the new system. The NSPS will benefit a few employees at the expense of the vast majority. Congress can not be counted on to appropriate additional funds for the new pay system. Pay increases will have to be paid with funds that would have been used for step increases. As a result, a few selected employees will receive pay increases while all employees will no longer receive step increases. For example: if one employee receives a $5,000 pay increase, four employees will not receive a $1,250 step increase. Managers can expect employee morale to drop. The NSPS will decrease employee confidence and sense of fairness in the Federal pay system. Government managers have a wide spectrum of talents and capabilities. However, most were not specially trained to be managers. They spent years developing skills and becoming subject matter experts in a specific area of government work. As a result, most are subject matter experts who are also tasked to be managers. Management is a completely different job skill. It is outside most managers’ area of expertise. Giving performance appraisals is a necessary evil that they endure once a year. It is not a skill they have developed to a high level. The NSPS will base employee compensation on performance appraisals. Managers are not adequately trained or experienced to be given the responsibility of deciding levels of employee compensation. However, managers do have favorite employees. This will result in most employees viewing pay increases as evidence of a “good old boy”/”good old gal” system and not believing that decisions are based on job performance. The NSPS will make Federal employment less attractive to current and future employees. One of the main recruiting advantages that government employment has over private employment is stability. Employees in the private sector have to deal with the uncertainties of the private job market but will probably get pay increases faster than Federal employees. Federal employees usually have a secure job and can look forward to small but steady pay increases over the years. When the current employees entered the Federal workforce, they were shown the GS pay schedule and where on the schedule they would start their careers. They were told that they would receive step increases as they gained experience and performed their duties adequately. The GS pay schedule represented a pay system that was both stable and transparent. Employees signed on with this understanding. However, over the years, the Federal workforce has been increasingly subject to Reductions in Force. Now the NSPS will remove the benefits of the GS pay schedule. This not only breaks faith with current employees but will reduce incentives for future employees.