| Comment Number: | OL-10503128 |
| Received: | 3/4/2005 9:03:41 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've worked for the Federal Government for 29 years and I have the following concerns about the National Security Personnel System (NSPS): 1) Annual Pay Raises: Under the General Schedule, employee pay is clear. It is funded by Congress and can not be taken away. However, NSPS will take away this certainty. Salaries and bonuses are funded by DoD. If DoD does not fund its awards program due to budget restraints, there will be no pay raises. 2) Pay for Performance: With NSPS, the amount of a worker's salary will depend almost completely on the personal judgment of the manager. This will give mid and low level managers too much power on the careers of others. And many civilians work for active duty military personnel who will not understand the civilian work force. The NSPS system will force workers to compete with one another for pay raises, which will destroy teamwork. There is no guarantee that the best workers will receive a pay raise or that the pay offered will be fair or competitive. 3) Reductions in Force ( RIF): Although performance should always be a consideration in RIFs, the NSPS does not give enough credit for seniority. An employee who has dedicated his life to government service should be given more credit. The results of recent performance evaluations shouldn't have as much weight in RIF decisions. 4) Forced Deployments: Under NSPS, federal employees could be assigned anywhere in the world, even into a war zone, with little or no notice. This would be unfair to force civilians into deployments and result in low morale of the work force. DoD doesn't need forced deployments that result in unhappy workers in a combat zone.