| Comment Number: | OL-10509385 |
| Received: | 3/15/2005 3:00:01 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:
Under this subpart, DOD would have the authority to establish a new pay system completely outside the GS and WG systems. No specifics are given. Instead, the system will be announced in an “implementing issuance” not published in the Federal Register for public comment. and position descriptions. Accompanying this will be “pay bands” to replace pay grades and steps. The proposed DOD intends to establish “broad, occupational career groups” to replace positions regulations would provide for adjustments to pay bands to reflect local market conditions, which seems to contemplate cost-of-living increases though there is no indication as these adjustments will be determined or how often they will occur. Individual employee pay will be directly linked to performance ratings, so that two employees working next to each other on the same tasks could be paid the same wages, or different wages, from year to year. The proposed regulations would allow for other “goodies” like a “performance payout,” an “extraordinary pay increase” or an “organizational achievement recognition.” The proposed regulations indicate that when an employee is reduced in pay due to a reduction in force, the employee may get some sort of pay retention but no details are provided. For a system that pretends to be so sensitive to employee morale, this is a terrible oversight. Without having to follow the grade and pay retention statutes anymore, DOD should assure its employees that if they are reduced to a lower pay band without personal fault (e.g., reassignment to a lower paying position to accommodate a disability), they will not suffer a loss in pay. Another startling oversight is the lack of any specifics on premium pay. Like so many other fundamental aspects of the program, this is to be established in “implementing issuances” without publication in the Federal Register for public comment. What will happen to title 5 overtime? (Thank goodness Congress didn’t allow DOD to repeal the overtime provisions of title 29- the FLSA). What will happen to compensatory time, Sunday pay, night pay, hazardous duty pay and holiday pay? As things now stand, DOD can abolish all these types of pay. Subpart C: Pay and Pay Administration This is where we really have to hold onto our hats. The proposed regulations do away with the General Schedule and Wage Grade systems, so Congress will no longer be involved in setting or adjusting basic pay or in providing cost of living increases. Instead, the proposed regulations provide that each employee’s pay will depend on his pay schedule and pay band, his rate range, his local market supplement and his performance payout (based on his performance rating). And all this will be set by DOD, not Congress. And how DOD will go about making these determinations will be revealed later in “implementing issuances.” Will there be wage surveys in which unions can participate? How will DOD determine what jobs in the local labor market are comparable to DOD jobs? Which local markets qualify for a supplement and which don’t? How often will DOD conduct wage surveys and adjust basic pay? How can anyone comment on this new pay system without knowing any of its details? Despite the lack of detail, there are a couple of provisions that are particularly troubling. Section 9901.343 would allow DOD to reduce the basic pay of an employee whose performance or conduct are unacceptable by up to 10 percent. A supervisor could bombard an employee with these actions to the point of cutting the employee’s pay in half in 5 years. The proposed regulations also provide that, upon promotion, an employee’s pay can be set anywhere in the higher pay band. This eliminates the provisions of current law, which control the exact grade and step an employee receives upon promotion. The opportunities are rife for abuse as management officials vary the pay of each new employee promoted, depending on how much they like the employee, whether the budget that year is tight, whether they were told they were too generous with the last promotion, etc.