| Comment Number: | OL-10509786 |
| Received: | 3/15/2005 6:10:57 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:
9901.712 Mandatory Removal Offenses I believe that there is an opportunity for misuse of power by any one person who is given sole, exclusive, and unreviewable discretion to determine rules and to change rules in the future. These removable offenses should be spelled out in the NSPS guidelines so that all can review, approve, and understand the specifics, or Congress should make this in the form of a law. For an off-the-wall example to make a point, suppose we have a future Secretary who decides to reduce the workforce by declaring it a mandatory removable offense to access the internet at work because he thinks this is harming national security by wasting the effort of manpower available to him. Even if internet access is required to do the worker's job, a worker could be removed. Although the President would probably get rid of the Secretary for such an action, great upheaval in the workforce could, and probably would, take place among the workforce before this correction could be made. 9901.405 Performance management system requirements (c) For motivated, dedicated workers, the recognition of performance and contribution by management is largely dependent on the work assigned and on visibility of the work to management. In the current system, manager's favorites are already rewarded with these jobs and out-of-favor employees are assigned to less visible jobs. However, in the current system, the out-of-favor workers cannot be penalized because they provide, by design, less contribution. This new system will allow managers the flexibility to penalize out-of-favor employees and to much more rapidly advance their favorites, no matter if each type of employee has an equal level of performance on the job assigned. 9901.341 General A high performance culture is created by clearly articulating goals and giving a team a mission to accomplish these goals. Because of our democratic ways, these goals are constantly being modified, resulting in constant political and funding battles that take our focus off performing the mission. The one thing that civil servants don't have to worry about now is their pay, which removes a source of worry and politics that would further lessen their focus. This new system will remove this one good aspect that helps workers focus on their work and will now open up a new level of uncertainty that will detract from mission accomplishment. Subpart F: Workforce shaping Most civil servants chose to take a government job because of the stability of the job and the retirement benefits. There are two categories of sharp workers - one who is willing to expose themselves to the rought and tumble of the corporate world in order to earn a salary the government can't match, and the other who desires stability and enjoys serving their country and will sacrifice higher pay for this environment. In developing a system where one's pay can be cut if you are transferred from group A to group B in the same band doing the same work, and where a job can easily be changed, reassigned, deployed, I believe you are cutting off the category of worker who has been the mainstay of civil service and that you will not be able to entice those in the corporate world because pay and benefits will not be able to be matched. Finding good workers who show up every day in this generation is not easy - I believe that the writers of this proposed substitute system do not realize the asset that has been developed under the civil service system. I believe that changing some of the rules under the current system to allow more flexibility can easily be achieved without creating the upheaval that will result from the proposed NSPS.