| Comment Number: | OL-10507653 |
| Received: | 3/14/2005 1:41:09 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:
On Page 10 of the Federal Register, NSPS Proposal of February 2005, in the section entitled “Performance Pay Pools”, it says that the amount of money in the pay pool is based on money that would have been available for within-grade increases, quality step increases, promotions between grades that have been banded in the NSPS pay system, and applicable across-the-board pay increases. The only applicable across-the-board pay increases that employees now receive would be the annual COLA (cost of living adjustment) normally given every January. Since this COLA money is not performance based like the other sources of money, it should not be mixed into the performance pay pool. The net effects of mixing COLA money into the performance pay pool could be devastating to employee morale. NSPS employees who are performing at an acceptable level, even if minimally acceptable, should receive at least the across-the-board pay increase (COLA) that Congress intends for all federal employees. This pay increase is necessary to counteract normal inflation and cost of living increases in people’s daily lives (health insurance, auto insurance, taxes, utilities, day care, etc). Otherwise, a satisfactory employee’s pay could be frozen under NSPS, equivalent to a pay cut year after year. Furthermore, why don’t the authors just come out and use the term COLA, an acronym that all federal employees understand, rather than burying an ambiguous sounding phrase instead on page 10 of the regulations? No wonder employees do not trust the creators of NSPS.