Comment Number: OL-10510352
Received: 3/16/2005 9:07:57 AM
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:

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to express my concerns about the impact I believe NSPS will have on the average DoD civilian employee. My immediate concern is that these comments and constructive recommendations will not be considered, or even read. I’ve taken the time over the last month to read through as many comments as possible. Some are single-line derogatory statements; many are form letters; and most offer sincere concerns. Will any of these concerns really be considered? There is a common thread – we are worried about our future under the proposed guidelines. My concerns are generalized after reading the Federal Register, Feb 14, 2005, Proposed Rules. My federal career spans over 26 plus years. None of my promotions came easy to me. I have been recognized when there really wasn’t anything significant to recognize, and ignored when I believed my efforts went “over and beyond” to achieve outstanding results. We have always had to live with management subjectivity, but I fear NSPS will have even more adverse affect when management obtains autonomous control. I don’t foresee supervisors being accountable for their actions, and it frightens me. You must avoid the appearance of preferential treatment; yet this is impossible when a supervisor takes a military member who sits side-by-side, working the same job responsibilities as a civilian counterpart; writes a specific PD for the military member to be hired into. The military position is converted to a civilian authorization and the job is advertised for external hire. Bottom line – the military starts his federal career while he is on terminal leave from the service. This is happening everywhere!! Imagine how much worse things will be when the supervisors obtain more power to hire, fire, and determine who he/she wants to give performance awards to. I worked hard to get into my career program. Younger civilian employees will no longer have the opportunity to apply for the small percentage of “fenced” jobs in their career program because now anyone can walk in off the street and be hired. “Career Programs” and the opportunities afforded by specialized career programs will be replaced by "Career Groups." The supervisor will be allowed to "interpret" qualifications, subjectively. Fortunately, CSRS will allow me to retire in a few years. Whereas retirement used to be the furthest thing on my mind, it is moving closer. I just don’t trust management to be fair with the majority of employees. I truly believe the good-ole-boy system will prevail and NSPS will become corrupt. Favoritism will run amuck as supervisors fire employees with personality conflicts (of their own) and hire friends and family. Supervisors will assign more important and visible tasks to favorites and performance pay will follow. The quiet, hard working employee sitting in the corner will go unnoticed while the boss shines as a result of the quiet employee's accomplishments. Hopefully I will be proven wrong. Thank you for considering my concerns.