Dear Bureau Pat:
I'm a federal employee and I've heard a lot about the National Security Personnel System (NSPS). What is it? Will it affect me? And is it supposed to expire at the end of FY09?
Dear Hopeful,
Unfortunately, if you are one of 181,500 non-bargaining unit employees in the Department of Defense, and you're not a believer in NSPS, you're in for a real treat. But the cries and moans of the unions and other federal employees over NSPS have been heard. In fact, implementation of Max HR was blocked at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and NSPS at DoD for unionized workers. So there is hope for you yet.
Regarding your questions:
What is the National Security Personnel System (NSPS)?
NSPS is a pay-for-performance personnel system created in 2004 under authorization by Congress for the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and rushed into implementation in mid-2006. The system replaces the General Schedule (GS) grade and step system with a pay-band system intended to provide more flexibility in establishing pay levels and bonuses. As designed, it rewards those who work hard with more pay, and those who sit around reading jokes on OhMyGov! all day with less pay - we love you anyway.
NSPS has differing policies concerning tenure, hiring, reassignment, promotion, collective bargaining, pay, performance measurement and recognition, etc. Pay increases that were automatic under the GS system do not exist under NSPS.
There is a significant level of controversy as to whether or not the flexibility gained with the new system comes at the bureaucratic price of requiring significantly more effort on the part of managers to document performance and manage compensation. Translation: the review process takes FOREVER. But proponents of NSPS say this "drawback" ensures better communication between supervisor and employee and will evolve over time so as be be less cumbersome...much like Oprah.
Despite recent reports from OhMyGov! and the Government Accountability Office that state DoD must improve the implementation and address employee concerns about NSPS, the Defense Department was still able to publish the final regulations in the Federal Register last Friday. These regulations govern compensation, classification and performance management under NSPS, aligns DoD's human resources management system with the Department's critical mission requirements, and protects the civil service rights of NSPS-covered employees.
Will NSPS affect you?
Whether or not you are in the Department of Defense, pay-for-performance systems may affect you. Currently, there are several "demonstration" systems throughout government that use the pay-for-performance concept and more agencies may opt for NSPS's flexibility in the future.
Additionally, all members of the Senior Executive Service (SES) have been rated based on a pay-for-performance protocol since 2004. So if make the cut, you'll face the same pain.
Is funding supposed to expire at the end of FY09?
No, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) funded the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) for another year with the following caveat stating, "...We (Congress) intend to carefully scrutinize the final regulation when published. Should it fail to comport with the intent of Congress to restore the collective bargaining rights of DoD employees, we shall revisit the issue in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010."
However, it appears the Defense Department is dropping plans to convert employees represented by labor unions to its new personnel system, according to the program's top personnel official.
New regulations governing NSPS, which did not adequately address the compulsory changes by Congress in the fiscal 2008 Defense Authorization Act, recently drew widespread criticism from federal unions.
Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, stated "We strongly believe that the proposed regulations go beyond the intent of the revisions made to NSPS in the [defense authorization measure] for fiscal 2008...The intent of this legislation was to restore the collective bargaining rights of DoD employees."
Currently, 270,000 white-collar Defense employees are represented by labor unions. The department has added more than 181,500 non-bargaining unit employees to NSPS since 2006 and plans to bring an additional 20,000 into the system this fall, bringing it close to converting all 205,000 non-bargaining unit employees.
An analysis of NSPS by Federal Times in August 2008 found that the January 2008 issuance of performance-based pay raises and bonuses, the first large-scale payout under the new system, was filled with inequalities. The analysis found that white employees received higher average performance ratings, salary increases and bonuses than employees of other races and ethnicities. Also, employees working at DoD agencies, such as the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Tricare, the Office of the Inspector General and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, earned higher performance ratings and payouts overall than did their civilian counterparts in the three military service branches such as the United States Army, United States Navy, and United States Air Force. Furthermore, raises and bonuses were often inconsistent with performance ratings.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) said that the analysis supports their concerns about the new system. "These systems can have a discriminatory impact. Whether it's intended or unintended, it happens nevertheless," said Brian DeWyngaert, AFGE Chief of Staff.
The Only,
Bureaupat
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