| Comment Number: | OL-10504008 |
| Received: | 3/8/2005 10:29:38 AM |
| Subject: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| Title: | National Security Personnel System |
| CFR Citation: | 5 CFR Chapter XCIX and Part 9901 |
| Attachment: | personal story .doc Download Adobe Reader |
Comments:
I believe the proposed NSPS regulations will undermine the civil service and hurt the ability of DOD employees to accomplish the agency's mission. It promotes a “good ol boy” system that will create animosity and favoritism. Subpart C Sections 9901.301 to 9901.373 Defense Department employees should continue to receive the same annual pay and across-the-board adjustment that other GS/FWS workers receive. The individual pay increases for performance in the regulations should include guaranteed percentages so employees will understand the pay system and what their pay increase will be depending on their performance. Otherwise increases may be unfairly distributed to the individual who knows how "kiss posterior" so to speak. Subpart D Sections 9901.401 to 9901.409 To ensure fairness and accuracy, employees should be able to appeal any performance rating to an independent grievance and arbitration process as they can do now. Subpart E Sections 9901.501 to 9901.516 The proposed regulations would replace longstanding provisions on hiring found in 5 U.S.C. Chapters 31 and 33 with unpublished procedures that will be prescribed at some future date through implementing issuances. Using this approach will allow the Defense Department to arbitrarily develop and administer new rules on staffing and employment that have not been available for public comment. This is especially troubling given the proposal to engage in non-citizen hiring to positions within NSPS. Our national security would surely be put at risk if managers were able to exercise such hiring flexibilities. Subpart F Sections 9901.6012 to 9901.611 The Defense Department should not change the current layoff/RIF rules, which give balanced credit to performance and the employees' valuable years of committed service. Moreover, under the proposed regulations employment disputes over such matters would be unfairly limited to the Merit Systems Protection Board Subpart G Sections 9901.701 to 9901.810 The NSPS guiding principle on enhanced management flexibility would be undermined if the provision on mandatory removable offenses is retained. Due process and fairness demand that the independent body reviewing major suspensions and terminations be allowed to alter the proposed penalty if it deems the penalty to be unreasonable. Subpart H Sections 9901.801 to 9901.810 Over 25 years worth of case law will be discarded where those precedents conflict with NSPS. This will eliminate the use of the Douglas factors, which third parties used to mitigate or overturn agency-imposed penalties Subpart I Sections 9901.901 to 9901.929 The labor-management law that has governed the employees' right to organize and engage in collective bargaining has worked well since 1978. There is no compelling reason to take away most of the collective bargaining rights or grievance rights. The Defense Department should not create a "company-dominated dispute board." Any dispute board must be jointly selected by management and the union. There are numerous contradictions throughout the proposal. IE: in one area Veterans preference is retained, in another it states that a temp can be made permanent without going to open competition....basically eliminating the rights of those that suffered a RIF or veterans from competing for that job. Subpart C Sections 9901.331 to 9901.334 leaves open the possibility of persons loosing pay based on location. IE; as an 081(fire fighter) my pay is based on a 72 hr workweek. Local departments pay on a 48 hr workweek. If you compare the local pay of a fire fighter to that of a Federal employee you would have to look at the hourly wage vice the whole salary since we work 24hrs more per week. Some areas have no paid department and use volunteers, so no salary comparison could be made causing a severe loss of pay. Under the guise of flexibility we are returning to the nepatism and buddy system of old.