Comment Number: OL-10511039
Received: 3/16/2005 1:46:06 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 just don't understand the need for such a DRASTIC overhaul of the government civil service system. I do agree it's too difficult to fire civil servants who don't perform and it's way too difficult and cumbersome for non-government people to apply for DoD jobs. But, why take away the rights of ALL DoD civil servants? Why put all of us in a position to be at the mercy of supervisors to receive any kind of salary increase or keep our jobs or ever be allowed to retire? We can be fired to keep us from ever rbeing eligible to retire. I agree yearly increases would be more fair if based on job performance, but is it necessary to put all of us in a position where we can be fired if we have the misfortune of working for a supervisor who for some reason just does not like us? I have 38 years with the USAF and I've had a couple of supervisors who just couldn't be pleased. Thank god I was protected by the current civil service personnel system or I probably wouldn't be a civil servant today. I have an exemplary employment history record with the USAF, and I can honestly say I am a top rate employee - very loyal to my management as well as the USAF. I can retire in a couple of years, so I can escape before anything bad can happen to me. But, there are many great people who have many years to work and will be caught up in the craziness of the new NSPS, and who can be hurt by this system. When I signed up to work as a civil servant for the USAF, it wasn't a part of the contract to agree to go work in war zones around the world. Military personnel sign up to commit their lives to the USG and their country - not civil servants. The main concern of most civili servants is that everything that happens to them, salary increases and even salary decreases, job protection, etc., will depend on their supervisors, and there are a lot of inept supervisors in DoD and other government agencies. It isn't necesarily the fault of the supervisor because some people have been made superivosrs and really didn't want to be a supervisor. A lot of supervisors don't have the necessary supervisory skills required to fairly assess a person's work habits, or people accept a promotin to a supervisory position because they just want to be promoted. Then again, there are a lot of supervisor's who are just nasty and evil people, and total control freaks. Then there're military personnel who are made supervisor's of civil service employees. We have military come into our organization who have never worked with a civilian employee, let alone had a clue as to how to supervise civilians. AND what about the higher ranking military personnel who don't like civilians and especially don't like females? We'll be fair game for these people because we won't have any means of protection under the NSPS. We will be very vulnerable and open to retribution if we would ever complain about unfair treatment OR sexual harassment. There's more I could say, but if what I have said so far doesn't mean anytjing, then there's nothing else I can say that anyone will listen to or consider important. All I ask, is that everyone step back and take the time to clearly think through the process of how to redesign the DoD civil service system to make a new system fair to all of us loyal USG workers.