In Transit

Many Pentagon employees, though not all, welcome the congressionally mandated transition from the Defense Department's pay-for-performance system back to the General Schedule. But for some, the actual process is causing heartburn because the conversion rate regarding pay is not a simple 1-to-1 measurement.

When lawmakers approved the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act, which repealed the National Security Personnel System, they included a provision that ensured employees who converted from NSPS back to the GS system would not lose any pay as they transitioned. But recently, federal employee groups and unions have expressed concern over an unintended consequence for transitioning top performers: a pay freeze.

NSPS and the General Schedule were not created equal, and many NSPS employees are making more money now than they did at the grade and step level they occupied under the GS system. So those employees who convert won't see a decrease in pay, but they could lose out on full annual pay raises, at least until the GS system catches up with them.

The response from the Pentagon, while hewing to the letter of the law, literally, nevertheless doesn't provide any illumination. The 2010 Defense Authorization Act "requires that NSPS employees transitioning out of NSPS suffer no loss of or decrease in pay upon conversion. General Schedule pay retention authority allows for compliance with this statutory requirement for NSPS employees whose salary exceeds the 10th step of their grade level, based on the permanent duties and responsibilities performed at the time of their transition from NSPS. Governmentwide law and regulations control pay retention for individual employees -- including the limitation on future general salary increases," John H. James, the NSPS transition office director and a Navy career senior executive, said in a statement. James also cites Chapter 51, Title 5 of the U.S. Code, as the basis for determining a converted employee's GS title, series and grade post-NSPS.

Hmm. No news here. James does go on to say employees have the right to challenge their classifications. "Employees who have questions regarding their GS classification determination are encouraged to speak to their supervisor or their human resources adviser, who can advise them on how their position was classified. There is also an appeals process in place to challenge the classification decision."

That doesn't sound particularly encouraging to an employee who has worked hard, earned a reward for it, and because of change in one law but not another, loses out during annual pay raise time. It's kind of like that saying about people who perform well in their jobs: they are rewarded with … more work.