Return to Article: DHS told to revamp personnel rules
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11883
I am familiar with pay-for-performance systems. In fact, I have worked under such a system for 27 years. Each year or two or three my supervisor gets a printout that inquires about my performance for the previous period. If I have performed my job satisfactorily, (s)he approves a step raise; if not, it is disapproved. Each year, I also get a performance rating. If I have performed well enough, my supervisor has the option of granting an award of some kind.
That same system allows for non-performers to be ousted from the civil service. True, it takes a some documentation on the part of the supervisor, but it can be done. If you do not believe me, take a look at the number of appeals cases handled by the Merit Systems Protection Board. The very name of the Board says it all. Any dismissal that is truly warranted is upheld by the Board. The Board seems to be very conscientious in serving the system fairly and honestly. (There are other agencies/organizations/courts that can and do get involved in personnel issues with the same fairness and honesty as the Board.)
This new system seems to be more concerned with allowing a supervisor to avoid due process for employee dismal or give raises based on personal relationships than establishing an integral personnel system that is fair. It is a spoils system. It is a dictatorial answer to a non-existant problem. It leaves no oversight to protect employees from overzealous, tyrantical or bad managers. It is my way or the highway.
Based on the previous submissions, comments from my peers and the other opinions I have read, supervisors may not have to worry about dismissing employees or handing out performance pay. They are going to be too busy recruiting and training new employees who will undoubtably resign (before getting dismissed) when they get a real taste of MaxHR. I sure hope management has some very patriotic and loyal friends and family who are willing to put it on the line to protect this country. Those may be the people upon whom our lives depend. At least they will be well paid given all those pay-for-performance raises approved by their nepotistical supervisors.
Where is the line to submit my retirement paperwork?
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11666
Mike,
Take it from a former uniformed, front line inspector at CBP: the new personnel system will do more harm to our national security than any terrorist ever will. If your rank and file inspectors are not happy about the way they are treated how can you expect them to go the extra mile in order to protect our nation? They simply will not care. Right now morale is at a point where a lot of them already don't care. Sadly I can tell you that I did hear many inspectors say they hope the next attack is bigger than the previous ones so that the agency gets the shakeup it badly needs. This came from everyone: former INS, Customs, Agriculture, Border Patrol (which got off easy in the creation of CBP) and ICE inspectors. Even some of the newly hired "CBP Officers" and some Armed Forces Reserve personnel voiced similar sentiments!! What does that tell us? That unless someone does something to improve morale at CBP we have more to fear from DHS management than terrorists. And what better way to improve morale than scrapping one of the provisions that make it easier for management to treat them like their personal property?
I left CBP, because I could not adapt to the current attitude and low morale and I cannot take my former bosses setting our nation up for 9/11 part deux.
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11664
I have had enough, I am getting out of the government. Actually I am going to retire while there still is a retirement system left in the government.
If all of this new stuff goes into effect you can work for 18 or 19 years and get fired. All you will have left is your TSP. Out the back door with the garbage.
The government, under the influence of King George must be proud of themselves.
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11661
The president of our country knew what the DHS personnel system was and he approved it. Nothing goes forward without his approval and it shows our president is not for the workers but for management types (some are managers and the rest are pretenders). This is why we have so many problems with our country. The president is not for the people and therein lies the problem.
This judge was doing the right thing for the people and will probably suffer for it.
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11659
Thanks Judge!! Even though the "administration" will beat you to a pulp. Obviously you have no political aspirations. As a former manager, you may have allowed me to hang on another 2 years until I can get out of this zoo with my pension ... this is without doubt an organization with no moral compass, leaders, did I say LEADERS? with no idea what the words "honest" and "ethical" means. They have already jumped the gun and trashed Merit System principals and licking their collective chops while they promote their family, friends and good ole boys. After 28 years ... I, like most old Customs people in OFO and ICE I speak with almost daily; can't wait to leave, giving the ole one finger salute to these self serving incompetents who are only interested in "their" big bonuses at any cost !@!! It's a shame, a real shame. Too bad they don't pay Senior Executives based on performance !! That would stop this whole train wreck !
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11644
Thank Heaven for unions. The little guys win one.
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11640
The majority of civilians at this location don't belong to the union. This whole situation is not about "ME", it's about protecting our country. That's part of the problem--when things go wrong a decision needs to be made! Don't need a bunch of meetings about nothing! If you work for the DOD you're not working for a democracy! That's not what it's supposed to be about! Political correctness, and making everyone happy is hurting our country. Just look around you!
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11638
ding ding
Round 1 goes to NTEU in the fight over collective bargaining on some very narrow grounds and due process -- the rest of this including pay for performance gets implemented. So while NTEU sobers up over this narrow victory and finishes writing its "nah, nah, we won" letter to Secretary Chertoff they really should start preparing for the appeal in the very same court that admonished them just a few short weeks ago in a footnote in the Customer Service case for lying to the court.
Ding Ding-- and round 2 goes to?
And on the same card-- AFGE et al against DOD for NSPS.
The fight over collective bargaining is certainly not over- the AFL-CIO is a wreck, the administration is still out to implement huge changes to HR in a wide swath of areas. You should stop celebrating over a narrow victory on collective bargaining and due process before MSPB in front of one lone voice of reason. DHS and Dod Has too much invested to lie down and play dead before NTEU and its friends.
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11636
I believe I speak for the majority of current and former DHS rank-and-file employees when I say this:
Hooray for Judge Collyer!
Finally someone at the Judicial branch had enough common sense to tell DHS that their new personnel system is akin to corporate (governmental?) slavery.
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11633
It is a sad state of affairs when a Federal Judge has to tell the Agency that you work for that its proposed personnel rules go against all cannons of fairness, decency and good commonsense. Take a challenge and call your regional personnel office and they tell you that the volume of applications for retirement from ICE employees is unprecedented, it is overwhelming ACD Personnel staff. The SS "ICE" is slowly listing and taking in water.
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11619
I hope this will stall this nonsense long enough for me to get out with a retirement. We were "told the good news" today by email by Zach Gaddy (the DFAS head honcho) that all of DFAS is going with Spiral 1.1 (make that Spiral Down 1.1). You can sugarcoat it all you want Mr. Gaddy, but, your "capital" are not looking forward to this bit of garbage at all.
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