Today, President Obama signed the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act.  Included in the bill was a provision to repeal the controversial National Security Personnel System (NSPS) as well as several small provisions impacting retirement benefits for the federal workforce.  

“We applaud President Obama and Congress for their bold decision to repeal this anti-worker personnel system,” said William R. Dougan, National President of the National Federation of Federal Employees. “This shows that they are seriously committed to building a stronger, more just federal workplace in DoD.”

The NSPS provisions in the bill dictate a repeal of the system, and a conversion of the over 200,000 covered employees back into existing pay systems by January 1, 2012.  NSPS workers will be guaranteed the full annual GS pay adjustment over the transitional period.

Also included in the Defense Bill are provisions offering employees enrolled in the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) credit for their unused sick leave upon retirement, and extending locality pay to workers stationed outside of the mainland United States – both critical NFFE priorities.

“We are pleased to see that these crucial federal pay and retirement benefits have finally been extended to everyone in the federal workforce,” said Dougan. “This system has harbored discriminatory pay practices and it is the least transparent pay system we have ever seen. We knew we had to beat it, and today we finally did. This is a proud day for NFFE and our membership.”