| Comment Number: | OL-10509353 |
| Received: | 3/15/2005 2:42:57 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:
No specific sections were cited. 15 March 2005 Dear Sir or Madam: I am writing to express my concern over the Department of Defense’s (DoD) proposed National Security Personnel System (NSPS). I am a current federal employee and I believe that, overall, the NSPS will disrupt and undermine the current system that maintains an effective, efficient, adequately compensated, and objective DoD workforce. The adoption of the NSPS will also have a far-reaching effect on the quality of services provided by non-DoD agencies at all levels of government. Surely, the current system can be improved, but the extensive changes proposed by NSPS appear to be mostly unnecessary and counterproductive. If left unchallenged, it is likely that the NSPS will adversely impact the current system and the ability of the DoD workforce to serve the best interests of the citizens United States of America. It should be remembered that although we have superiors that provide guidance, direction and orders, ultimately, all Federal employees work for the citizens of this country, these are the people that we swore an oath to serve, and, as taxpayers, they are the ones that pay our salaries. It is essential that Federal employees are permitted the latitude to act in the best interests of the citizens of the United States, especially when one or more superiors uses improper judgment, which probably happens infrequently, but it is an important concern. For example, the U.S. soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison might have acted differently if they were not simply following orders and were allowed to think independently and contradict their direct superiors. The NSPS concentrates more power into the hands of a few high-ranking superiors, and compensation and continued employment is based on a vague notion of what constitutes acceptable performance. Under NSPS, superiors are given authority remove an employee from his or her position, even though they may not have an adequate understanding of the position or job performance. It appears that the main reason for implementing the NSPS is to improve financial rewards for good performance, or pay-for-performance, as well as to allow pay cuts or worse for inadequate performance. All these issues are addressed fairly in the current system by performance reviews and bonus incentives. The amount of emphasis and rewards the NSPS system provides for years of service, loyalty, dedication, and dependability is minimal and an insult to employees that are dedicated and have given their lives to the citizens of the United States. It is quite obvious that the administration has spent an exorbitant amount of time and resources to transform the way the DoD does its mission, and the way it leads and manages people who develop, acquire, and maintain our Nation’s defense capability. Apparently, they have forgotten what led up to the Pendleton Act of 1883, as well as the Watergate scandal that spurred President Carter's Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. Title VII of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 specifically declares labor organizations and collective bargaining, as it relates to the civil service system, to be in the public interest. My concern is that NSPS will result in a federal workforce that no longer regards the American public as its primary stakeholder, nor serves it with integrity and honor.