| Comment Number: | OL-10511953 |
| Received: | 3/16/2005 6:48:14 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 write to express my concerns about changes to work rules in the Department of Defense (DoD). The proposed regulations, known as the National Security Personnel System (NSPS), were printed in the Federal Register on February 14, 2005. This message will be sent to both DoD and my representatives in Congress. I have worked for DoD for nearly 12 years. I am angry that these proposals seem to treat the employees who help defend our country as the enemy. Most DoD employees work hard and are very committed, which could easily be proved by visiting (unannounced) any DoD agency. I believe that mistreating the employees will hurt the agency’s mission as well as jeopardize the agency's security. I am very upset by NSPS. This system will change the way workers are paid, evaluated, promoted, fired, scheduled, and treated, as well as open the door for the positions to be assigned to non-government civilians who may not be subjected to the astringent security screenings that are essential to currant Federal hiring practices. These rules would create a system in which federal managers are influenced by favoritism and personality rather than serving the civil concerns of the American people and our warfighters. Annual Pay Raises 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. As a result of NSPS salaries and bonuses are to be funded by DoD officials that are too far removed from the actual jobs to budget and allocate them fairly. In the past – as recently as just last year – DoD did not fund its 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? “Friend of the Supervisor” Pay System With the new patronage pay system, which DoD calls “pay for performance,” the amount of a worker's salary will depend almost completely on the personal judgment of his or her manager. 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. Unscrupulous supervisors can become localized dictators, who reward and punish whichever subordinates they choose. Furthermore, there will be no impartial appeal system to assure that everyone is treated fairly. This is a blatant attempt at 'Union busting'. No system is fail-safe. They all need checks and balances. Without unions, there are no checks and balances for Federal officials, managers, and supervisors. Under NSPS, the people that you represent on Capitol Hill will be as helpless as the Afghani women were under the Taliban regime. Schedules and Overtime NSPS will allow managers to schedule employees to work without sufficient advance notice of schedule changes. This will make it extremely difficult for working parents to care for their children, aging parents, and family. It will also mean that abusive managers could harass employees with bad schedules or short notice. Overtime rotations can be canceled, which means that employees may not be able to plan adequately for childcare and other important responsibilities. Civilian Deployment Federal employees could be assigned anywhere in the world, even into a war zone, with little or no notice. I am proud to serve my country, but I am also responsible for caring for my family and my personal obligations at home. We signed up for a civilian job. We did not enlist in the military. Today’s volunteer system works well. Without the options, we are all enslaved, and the Constitution of the United States, as far as protecting the rights of Federal employees is concerned, becomes as ineffective as a roll of toilet tissue. America is at war, but not with Federal employees. The U.S. is fighting for democracy abroad. But these NSPS regulations are an attack on Federal workers’ basic rights right here. Furthermore, NSPS will divert the attention of defense workers from the soldiers’ welfare to protecting themselves from abuse on the job. I urge you to force DoD to rethink this proposal. We need work rules that preserve fairness, serve the American people, and respect the rights of Defense Department workers.