Comment Number: OL-10510816
Received: 3/16/2005 12:12:00 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 do not have an issue with a specific section of the proposal, but with the philosophy of the proposal in general. I have almost 31 years with the federal government and am still 6 plus years away from retirement. For the record, I have always received excellent performance appraisals and also feel that in the past I’ve received fair award money. At issue is that most if not all federal government employees anticipate that their high three will be calculated based on our last three years of earnings. That is now in grave jeopardy and it is of great concern to me. Because NSPS does not guarantee even an adequate cost of living raise and possible no raise, I may be currently earning what will represent my high three. Of major concern is the fact that this law provides no protection to employees by mandating that a percentage of the award money set aside be distributed as salary to reward average to good performers. So if I receive all of my "reward" for being a good performer as bonus money only, my earning power for my high three will be adversely affected. Unfortunately, I feel that because the future budget is always an uncertainty, supervisors will be reluctant to award higher salaries that they are unsure they will be able to fund the following year. I see that money may be forthcoming, but that it will not benefit the employees in the long run. I am also dismayed that Congress/NSPS proponents haven’t realized that there is already a way to reward progressive employees. It is called a Quality Step Increase. These awards while available to supervisors today have rarely been given to a top performer. In addition, a poorly performing individual can be denied their annual step increase. This rarely if ever happens either. These are tools the government supervisors already have to do what they claim NSPS will do for them and why I do not see any benefit to the NSPS system. It hasn’t worked in the past and I do not see it working any better. This system just has more potential for abuse, heartache, and hardship. The majority of government employees will be eligible to retire from Federal Service within the next 10 years and while some may not be the “go-getters” of tomorrow, they are the backbone of the government giving their time and effort to the best of their ability. I see these individuals as suffering the most and their unhappiness in their last few years of employment will detrimentally effect us all.