| Comment Number: | OL-10511829 |
| Received: | 3/16/2005 5:36:52 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 am against NSPS, and urge you to rescind DoD’s authority to do this to their employees. Under the General Schedule and FWS, employee pay was clear. It was funded by Congress and could not be taken away. However, NSPS will take away this certainty since salaries and bonuses are funded by DoD. I have read that in the past, as recently as just last year, DoD did not fully fund its own awards program. Given the agency’s miserable record on this issue, how can employees feel confident that our salaries and bonuses will be funded in the future? The new rules create a system in which federal managers are influenced by favoritism rather than serving the civil concerns of the American people. Under the old system, if I made someone angry by doing my job properly and following the rules while my co-worker bent the rules for his boss-buddy, I might not get a time-off award or a bonus, but I at least knew I’d get my step increase! Now, that is no longer certain, and my annual pay is not even certain. I need to know what I can count on for pay, budgeting, etc. I feel uneasy about speaking out about fraud, waste, and abuse because I don’t want to further aggravate my boss and place next year’s pay raise in jeopardy, as well! I am certain that one of the Pentagon's objectives in advancing NSPS is to construct a so-called "pay for performance" system. This is another case of deceptive labeling. Various government agencies have been testing performance pay systems for more than 20 years and invariably, the results have been that the majority of workers feel cheated when advancement, promotion and pay decisions are given over to the sole discretion of a supervisor. The process typically reduces salaries and morale. It is too autocratic and eliminates any redress for decisions made on the basis of considerations other than merit. This system will force workers to compete with one another for pay raises, which will destroy teamwork, increase conflict among employees, and reward short-term outcomes. There is no guarantee that even the best workers will receive a pay raise or that the pay offered will be fair or competitive. This system will create a situation in which workers are in conflict with one another and afraid to speak out about harassment, violations of the law, and workplace safety problems because speaking out will bring even more hardship. I believe federal employees will feel more vulnerable and less likely to report abuses in the system, ultimately costing taxpayers. This “Friend of the Supervisor” Pay System will promote competition among coworkers rather than mission accomplishment. For these reasons, I oppose the implementation of NSPS until the Pentagon is willing to substantively address the issues raised by the United DOD Workers Coalition.