| Comment Number: | OL-10503510 |
| Received: | 3/6/2005 12:17:16 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:
DoD/OPM, By using various scare tactics in the name of national security, the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Defense (DOD) have been able to bully their way to establishing a radical new personnel system that will not only reduce pay and undermine morale, but also strip away basic worker rights that have been in place for decades. The last time I checked that wasn’t the American way. On the surface, the administration says the new system would tie pay to performance and make the DOD more flexible in its hiring practices. What the administration doesn’t tell you is that unlike the current system, managers will now have the power to play favorites when it comes to determining which employees deserve an increase in pay. Under the DOD’s new personnel regulations managers don’t have to provide employees with written performance standards. Additionally, the DOD has not produced any list of offenses that would be cause for termination. Without performance standards and other personnel criteria, employees are left vulnerable to favoritism and politically motivated firings. Additionally, the new system would make it increasingly difficult for workers to challenge unfair disciplinary actions. Once workers see favoritism and cronyism as the motivations for their pay and raises, morale and worker effectiveness will be destroyed. How is that in the best interest of our country? Under the current system, workers don’t have to worry about these unfair practices. The current system isn’t broken and as the saying the goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” DOD employees deserve better. Thank you, William M. Hamilton