| Comment Number: | OL-10507744 |
| Received: | 3/14/2005 2:36:04 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:
As a DoD civilian with over 13 years government service, I feel it necessary to voice my objection to the proposed NSPS. I have several reservations about the new system, the not the least of which is that the theory behind it is flawed. One of the major reasons that the old GS system is failing is because of the people who are in leadership and management positions. For whatever reasons, they cannot make the hard decisions when it comes to rating people. And now, with the NSPS we expect the same people who are in management positions today to magically transform and be able to rate people better? It’s not the system - it’s the people using the system. My main concern about the proposed NSPS is the procedures for addressing adverse actions. Shortening the response period to an adverse action is grossly unfair. Apparently government bureaucracy and red tape are acceptable everywhere except for when civilian employee’s rights are concerned. Invoking national security to shorten these appeal times is a joke. Using the guise of national security to restrict our civil rights is letting the terrorists win. Another concern of mine is the quote in the area of civilian deployment: “One of the goals of NSPS is to reduce its reliance on military to perform jobs that could be performed by civilians.” Who is better prepared to deploy to a war zone than the military? Any mission to be performed in a war zone should be accomplished by military personnel. Any DoD civilian could have enlisted if we had really wanted to, however we chose to support the mission through our respective DoD agencies. While I’m sure that the intent of the NSPS is genuine, there are just too many problems with it as it is constituted now. The existing workforce has benefited from such work arrangements as Alternate Work Schedule, flex time, advanced notice of work schedules and overtime rotations. People have come to rely on these arrangements and have scheduled their lives accordingly. Changing the rules in the middle of the game just won’t work. Additionally, much of the proposed changes in the NSPS will hurt the DoD in recruiting in the future also.