Comment Number: OL-10511752
Received: 3/16/2005 5:10:38 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:

1. I don't think there has been adequate time allowed for review to comment on NSPS. Every briefing that I have been to has started with the speaker saying that they don't really know all the details. How am I supposed to understand and make comments on something that has yet to be determined. I will quantify this statement by saying that I have not had the time to go into this web site and review the NSPS rules. I just wanted to make some general comments before the deadline. 2. I think the cost of living increase should be retained. I don't care if your the worst employee on the base. The cost of living increase just keeps our current pay in line with inflation. It is NOT A RAISE. Please keep the cost of living increases! 3. To base the NSPS on our current appraisal system is a mistake. The existing appraisal process is not a good indicator of the employees that the Air Force has. I have heard that the 860A form is going to be changed, but it is not only the form. Let me give you an example of my individual circumstance: a. I work for EN, but I am matrixed out to MGD. EN dictated to my boss that he could only give one '81-sustained superior' and that he had to give a 5% award with that 81. They also dictated that he could only give a total of 7% awards. That meant that he could only give one other person above a 78. b. The numbers that I'm quoting above may not be exactly correct, but it is what happened in my office. We have three employees (myself and two others) in this office that have for the last 4-5 years always worked hard and always received 81's with cash awards. This changed 2 years ago when they created EN and matrixed us back to our own organization. When appraisals came around a year later, EN dictated how my boss could appraise me and I was given the 78. My boss told me that there was nothing he could do and that he would have given me the 81 again this year if he could. It was even suggested that they would rotate the 81 year to year between the three of us. This is not a real evaluation of the people in this office. My boss should have the power to evaluate my performance, not be dictated to by people up in the ADMIN area looking to make all the appraisals come back with a bell curve (an even distribution). Every office is different and ours has a few really good performers that should be acknowledged. Whatever appraisal system is implemented should allow the supervisors to give real evaluations of their employees! c. Another strange twist that has happened with the current appraisal system are with the elements. We are going to be getting retention pay based on our appraisal's critical elements. I am going to lose out on some of the retention pay because I was not reviewed on one of the critical elements. The element in question is something our office does not do anymore and therefore we weren't evaluated on it. I know this is not part of the NSPS system, but I wanted to point out the weakness of the current appraisals.