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Return to Article: Nonunion employees need a voice in NSPS, observers say

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  The NSPS pay system is detrimental to our government employees. The NSPS allows heads of government departments to suppress wages and upper mobility to government employees. Moreover, the NSPS allows heads of government departments to even reduce wages from our government employees and prevent them from receiving yearly cost of living increases. Furthermore, the NSPS takes away the government employees basic right to dispute their Performance Annual Rating (PARs) such as, but not limited to a close out assessment, a performance payout, number of shares assigned, value of shares, or distribution of shares to base pay and bonus. The NSPS pay system invites and fosters corruption and discrimination against our Federal employees at the highest level. Please write President Obama today and ask him to use his executive order to completely repeal the NSPS pay system. You can email him at President@whitehouse.gov or you may write to The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20500. Sound our voice. We must protect out Federal employees.

  Aprell Waymire Posted February 6, 2009 2:41 PM
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  I was a GS-12 step 4 I was offered a GS-13 job in Kuwait on the phone by personnel a RRAD. They offer me $75,000.00 this should have been my base pay. We all know you lose your locality pay. When I received my first check they had put me at a GS-13 step one which is lest than I was making as a GS-12 step 4. The training I received on NSPS at RRAD I was told if you were on a temp promotion at the same time you were moved under NSPS you would fall in the pay band that the promotion has set you in at. After being here 4 months I received a check that put me back to a GS-12 step 4. They are telling me they had to do that to set me into NSPS at the right pay band there is no way this is ever going to be concidered a promotion it seems every turn I am losing money. What are the facts is this possible what is going on if so this system has not been studied an all flaws removed.

  Mark Posted February 25, 2008 11:41 PM
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  I transferred into WRAMC from a 12/7 to a 12/10 and my base pay was cut by $5000, after a year it was cut by another $5000. Now we are being told, we are going to NSPS. We will lose our cost of living increases, have potential for loosing our locality pay ans eve have our base pay cut if we don't please the jack-asses they call supervisors. Nurses at WRAMC are already deprived of their CNE/CME monies so that more doctors can attend their chosen CMEs. In my 30 years of nursing I have never been anywhere that treats nursing personnel so poorly as here. Strongly recommend that all government employees lobby their senators & congressmen/women to pull all funding for NSPS!!

  Dorothy Clinton Posted October 26, 2007 6:18 PM
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  I think the NSPS system is unfair for most federal employees. I am currently a new employee GS 9 Step 1, who started working with DOD in Germany on September 2006. I am supposed to receive my Step 2 increase in late September but now I am not sure of I will receive if because NSPS rolls out on October 1st in my organization.

  My biggest problem is that OPM is not really saying if we will receive the yearly GSI increase for 2008 under NSPS and subsequent yearly GSI increases. It seems the GSI increase is going to be phased out or included in the NSPS performance pay but will not be added in conjunction with any NSPS performance bonuses.

  DOD and our local HR personnel are trying to sell us on the fact that under NSPS everyone will be rated a satisfactory 3 upon conversion and as a 3, we will receive an average pay increase of 3%. This increase does not benefit new employees because currently we receive a 1.7% GSI yearly increase approved by congress plus a 3.3% step increase at the end of the year for an average total of 5%. As you can see, under NSPS our compensation will decrease by an average of 1-2% for new employees that receive a yearly step increase.

  In addition, I possess a Master's degree and I am overqualified for my current position. However, I accepted this position to get my foot in the door and then re-apply for other positions that I might find more complex and challenging within the organization. If I were move into another career level within DOD, one that would have been rated a GS11 or higher under NSPS, I fall under the same pay band and be subject to a maximum salary increase of 5%. This is termed a, "reassignment" under NSPS.

  However, someone hired from outside DOD would be able to get negotiate a higher salary within the same Pay Band and I would be restricted to a 5% increase. I believe this is truly and unfair practice and will not assist in retaining quality employees. If these protocols under NSPS are left in place, DOD will be a revolving door and quality hard working employees will flee to the private sector. Could you please voice my concerns about NSPS and answer my GSI questions. OPM has been very vague about using GSI and NSPS in the same sentence.

  Teddy Posted August 14, 2007 4:21 AM
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  Of course nonunion employees need a voice in NSPS! All employees need a voice in NSPS! And none of them are getting it! Nobody bothers to listen to the tens of thousands of comments, regardless of where they come from or what they say (except the five or six actually in favor of the system, most likely written by masochists, drug addicts, or the terminally ignorant). How can one be in favor of a plan one knows nothing about? If they've got an idea and aren't willing to tell us anything about it, it's only rational to assume it's a bad idea.

  GovExec.com reader Posted November 29, 2005 1:22 PM
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  I think this article gets to the real problem with not only NSPS but the entire federal workforce. The NSPS spokesperson said about 60 percent of Defense's civilian employees are represented by labor unions leaving 40 percent of civilian employees in the non-bargaining unit and out of the loop.

  That is 40 percent of the workforce is management. One manager/supervisor for every 1.5 workers. And people wonder why the federal government has problems with the personnel system?

  GovExec.com reader Posted November 23, 2005 1:57 PM
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  I have worked for the federal government for 20 years and the only group worse than government management is government unions.

  GovExec.com reader Posted November 23, 2005 12:30 PM
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  Please don't delude yourselves that once in place, NSPS will ever go away. Not in our lifetimes!

  If you don't like NSPS, and who does, fight now! Write your congressmen, join the union, do anything but sit on your hands! Once it's done, it's done, and it isn't going away.

  GovExec.com reader Posted November 22, 2005 3:13 PM
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  Simple. The DOD has received a big negative blast from the employee unions and management. DOD probably plans to intimidate unprotected employees into saying good things about NSPS.

  GovExec.com reader Posted November 22, 2005 11:41 AM
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  I agree that federal employees need to have some say about this NSPS. But I think that the unions need to quit whining about their diminished roles in NSPS. The unions have done less and less to protect the rights of federal workers. They spent their resources playing politics instead of improving working conditions. NSPS is another knee-jerk action just like so many before that failed because of poor planning. It will fade into obscurity just like the others and the unions will do little or nothing.

  By law, the unions may represent 60 percent of the federal workforce. But, they are so out of touch with the federal workers that I suggest they only represent 5 percent or 10 percent at best and they really don't have a clue about the needs of the rest.

  Federal employees are going to lose out no matter what happens with NSPS. It doesn't demand a more professional workforce and better management. It just attempts to cover up the current inadequacies. What a waste. We'll just have to hang on until it goes away.

  Robert M. Posted November 22, 2005 10:29 AM
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  I would encourage those who do not belong to join and have a voice. For years I thought that if you worked hard, management would take care of you (did they ever!), and that unions were for the lazy misfits who wanted to belly ache and not work. Was I ever wrong! After busting my hump to support the warfighter, I still got jerked around by a lady who could not spell "supervisor" if you were not in her circle. I joined my local bargaining unit and things changed. Do not sit out there thinking the union has to represent me no matter what. That's management talk. A union is as strong as its membership and involved member. NSPS will eat your lunch if you sit on your hands! Get active! Jungle Jon

  GovExec.com reader Posted November 22, 2005 9:42 AM
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  "GAO cannot overemphasize the importance of getting input from every employee ... not just those represented by the unions."

  So, what are they planning to do with the 58,000 comments they already have? It doesn't look like the NSPS Website is showing them anymore.

  GovExec.com reader Posted November 22, 2005 8:58 AM
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  It's about time management finally starts questioning NSPS. I've been praying for months, and indirectly supporting the unions to beat NSPS back. It's a bad deal for all involved.

  Phil Posted November 22, 2005 12:34 AM