| Comment Number: | OL-10506039 |
| Received: | 3/11/2005 10:42:47 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:
Several areas of the new system concern me beginning with the pay raises. I have worked for nearly 20 years in Civil Service and one thing I have seen over and over again is managers who reward and promote their favorites. Bonuses and on the spot awards and step increases tend to be given to the yes men and kiss ups. The new system offers a perfect environment for this behavior. And even if you are a middle of the road employee who shows up to work every day does his job and get a satisfactory on his performance review every year this will not guarantee you even a cost of living raise. What will happen is you will see many more people changing jobs in order to get a pay raise and the reliable work horses most agencies depend on to operate will be moving on because if they don't by the end of the first year they will be losing money due to all the cost increases. As it is the current raises barely cover the increase in medical insurance every year. The next issue is management who will abuse the system with work schedules and hours. Many of the labor laws on the books today are a result of actions by managers who demanded working hours out of employees without compensation. My mother began working for Civil Service in 1957 and she has told me about the bosses that required employees to work 10 to 12 hours a day and on weekends with the threat of losing your job if you did not and they were not compensated for it. This could happen again under the new rules and people would be just as afraid now as back then. We still have work-a-holics who live for being at work and think everyone else should too. How are we supposed to have a life and raise a family under those conditions. I have also worked for people over the years that think whatever you do at work is just your job and there is no reason to give you anything extra for it. These types will not reward people either. I have also been fortunate to work for some wonderful managers that would use this system as it is intended and the people working for them will thrive under the new system. Unfortunately that will be the minority. Under the new system a new form of fear will be introduced to the average Civil Service employee. I am sorry to say there is already too much of that among us. Now they will fear not getting a pay raise, being asked to choose between a job and their families and of being sent somewhere dangerous. It is morally wrong to cause an emplyee to live in fear of having their livelyhood taken away from them. I have worked for the Air Force and the Navy and I have watched programs like Total Quality Leadership (TQL) and Total Quality Management (TQM) come and go because they don't work. When an organization is being run by the Military with their rules for Chain of Command and military protocal you can not work a system like this because they won't change and nothing is ever done to change their system. Another concern is your new hires most of your new hires at higher pay are going to be for people packing multiple degrees and my experience with these types is they come in without a lot of work experience and a dislike for doing the mundane day to day work and they stay that way. They want to work on high profile projects guaranteed to bring them to the attention of higher management and earn them more kudos and pay raises. They also tend to move around seeking bigger and better jobs and the everyday work required to keep any organization running is going to be done by the average worker with no reward. On a final note the current President is a man who loves God, Family and his country and he is not alone in that. All Civil Service employees want is a healty work environment free of fear that allows them to support their families and their country with reasonable expectation of advancement and time for God and Family and your new system will take that away from them.