| Comment Number: | OL-10506908 |
| Received: | 3/13/2005 8:56:24 PM |
| Subject: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| Title: | National Security Personnel System |
| CFR Citation: | 5 CFR Chapter XCIX and Part 9901 |
| Attachment: | NSPS regulation review.doc Download Adobe Reader |
Comments:
I have read the proposed regulations, and these are my comments and recommendations, submitted at your request. There is not adequate room for my comments in this form. See attached file. Background I am a 20+ year DoD FERS employee, GS-13 with 1,800 hours of sick leave on the books, and a good track record on a typical career path at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) Bremerton WA. I started as a nuclear engineer, then worked as a 1st line engineering supervisor, and for the last 11 years have worked as a production manager on various aircraft carrier overhauls. My current job classification is GS-13-1152 supervisory production controller. The proposed regulations are misguided in many respects and will not lead to the intended performance results. Before getting into the specifics, I want to refute some of the rhetoric in the regulation front matter regarding 9-11 and the alleged need to transform the DoD’s civilians into an agile group for the 21st century. To maintain perspective, let us not forget, this group as organized was good enough for the Cold War. Moving forward a few years, on 9-11 I was on my way to work along with 7,000 other PSNS employees. The little group I work in was setting up to perform several jobs in San Diego. One co-worker was on his way to Sea-Tac airport, and called me on his cell phone and decided that since the airport was shut down, he would DRIVE his car to San Diego instead, and he did. He drove straight through in 19 hours. Those of us who made it through the security checks were told we could go home that day, but few did. We were told we did not need to report to work the next day, and most of us did anyway. We are an agile dedicated flexible workforce. Regarding being ready to fight: The Navy was ready to fight. DoD civilians have been maintaining a high degree of readiness for many years under what is described as an outdated system according to the NSPS public relations blitz. There is no readiness or flexibility problem under the current H.R. system. Responding to emergencies, including travel and work in dangerous foreign countries on short notice, working around the clock, loosing annual leave most years (because there is no time to use it) is a routine part of our work, and the vast majority the people at PSNS are proud and motivated to do it. The NSPS front matter describes the current system as “An outdated one-size fits all system.” Upon reading the proposed regulations it is readily apparent that the current system with “15 sizes” GS-1 through GS-15 is to be replaced with a “3 sizes” system. Pay bands 1, 2, and 3. In fact NSPS takes a 15-size system and replaces it with a “3 sizes fit all” system. Errors and Deficiencies by CFR Section 5 CFR XCIX SECTION 9901.103: Mandatory Removal Offense (MRO) is not defined at all. Mandatory Removal Offenses should be clearly defined now, in order to comply with E.O. 12988 Civil Justice Reform. The proposed definition does not meet the requirement to clearly describe the effect on other regulation or federal law when it provides a placeholder for a definition of Mandatory Removal Offense, but not the definition itself. Does Federal Law provide for due process for removal from a job with reduced arbitration rights? If so, Mandatory Removal Offenses should be defined in this implementing regulation. Saying “we will tell you later” is not a definition. This is all I have room for in this comment section. See attached file for full comments.