| Comment Number: | OL-10509841 |
| Received: | 3/15/2005 7:12:39 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:
I have worked under a Demonstration Project (DP) pay banding plan before. At the Naval Weapons Center, China Lake, CA. I also used to work at Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC), Edwards AFB. At first it was good. 1. Employee Pay at first went up, and the pay differential between commercial and Federal professionals decreased. But when the economy picked up, the pay differential increased back to the pre-DP level and stayed at that difference or increased (bad). 2. It did increase the Navy Labs ability to recruit junior scientists and engineers due to the pay increase and available lattitude for starting pay offers. The DP program freed NWC supervisors from ridiculous OPM rules for professional applicants. Eliminating OPM dumb/obsolete regulations does not require an ALL new Personnel System. 3. The DP program had less flexibility for retention of those same professional scientists and engineering people. As an example from July 1982 to July of 1983, NWC China Lake hired 153 Junior Professional Engineers and Scientists. Three years later, July 1986, there were only three (3) of the original 153 remaining as Federal Civilian employees. Given that the good economy under President Reagan up to 1988 was a factor in this turnover. 4. The DP program at NWC during the 1980's and also the Pay Banding system at Edwards AFB CA, beginning in 1997; DID NOT help with the numbers of bad/poor managers and supervisors at both Bases. The Pay Band permitted bad managers to collude in giving themselves the maximum pay raises each year while complaining merit pay raise poverty to their best workers (but maybe not brown nosing enough favorites). 5. I personally witnessed and was advesely effected by poor managers who gave themselves the maximum merit pay raises, which used up the available merit pay acount, such that more junior personnel although performing extremely meritorious work received nothing. The manager said, "You did great this year..." "Your are terrific employee" -- "But, I am really sorry, I cannot give you a merit increase this year because I have run out of money." This exact conversation occured to me. And almost exactly the same conversation occurred to many of those young professionals that I associated with. This is the real reason that retention was extremely poor. 6. The Pay Banding System in the Navy works much better than in the USAF due to one small factor. Navy professionals are treated as "Free Agents" and the USAF treats employees as chattel property of the Squadron Commander or Wing Commander. Navy professionals are permitted to "fire their boss", by latteral transferring on a Base across command authorities and the original supervisors CANNOT stop it or hold the employee. USAF professionals can be held forever by their supervisor. Such that the only people who lateral on a base MUST perform poorly or insult the supervisor to get permission to find a position that matches their career priorities. In fact in the USAF it is easier to quit one Base/Command, relocate ($) to another Base than it is to lateral transfer inside one Base. This is sad. Will the NSPS solve this problem? NO. 7. Will the NSPS permit me to give commercially equivalent Bonuses (10, 20, 100% of Annual Pay) to my staff when they do in three months what contractors could not do in 36 months. NO. 8. Will the NSPS permit me to reward extended hard work by sending them and their families on all expenses tickets to Disneyland. NO. 9. Will NSPS permit Federal DoD Civilians to get combat pay, hazardous duty pay or Veterans status if wounded/crippled for life in a war zone. NO. 10. NSPS is the same as killing your prized pig while replacing it with another pig wearing lipstick. 11. If you want real change in the DoD stop excluding the GM-14's and above from the VERA/VSIP early retirements. We really do need them gone. Most Sincerely.