Special Reports
National Security Personnel System
In the 2004 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress gave the Defense Department sweeping authority to design an implement a new system governing how more than 700,000 Defense civilian employees are hired, paid, promoted, and disciplined. Thus was born the National Security Personnel System, the Pentagon's effort to move to a pay-for-performance culture. The road to implementation of such a massive new system -- which has implications for personnel reform across the entire federal government -- has been far from smooth. Below are links to Government Executive's ongoing coverage of the implementation process.
LATEST NEWS
- Defense personnel system boasts supporters
(06/26/09)
Pay-for-performance at the Pentagon has many detractors, but also a fair share of defenders. - Reviews of NSPS sharply divided at first public hearing
(06/25/09)
Panel on Defense personnel system focuses on links between pay and performance, trust and training issues. - House sounds death knell for Pentagon pay-for-performance system
(06/25/09)
Lawmakers approve fiscal 2010 Defense authorization bill, which requires department to dismantle NSPS within one year unless it demonstrates improvement. - Administration calls language gutting Pentagon pay system 'premature'
(06/24/09)
The results of an ongoing review will help lawmakers make informed decisions about the future of the pay-for-performance arrangement, White House says. - Personnel chief sets timeline for pay reform efforts
(06/23/09)
Administration aims to include a proposal in the fiscal 2011 budget, and to pass legislation before the midterm elections. - Administration declines request to suspend pay-for-performance governmentwide
(06/23/09)
OMB chief tells lawmakers it is unnecessary to issue a blanket order halting systems tying pay to quality of work. - Panel backs bill that could spell end of Defense pay system
(06/16/09)
Measure requiring the Pentagon to report on why the National Security Personnel System shouldn't be abolished in a year now goes to the full House. - Lawmakers could deal Pentagon pay system another blow
(06/15/09)
Legislative provision would move NSPS employees back to the General Schedule unless Defense demonstrated improvements. - Panel reviewing Pentagon's pay system announces meetings
(06/03/09)
Group will collect input from personnel experts and members of the public in late June. - Unions react positively to OPM call for pay reform
(06/01/09)
But employee advocates do not want a pay-for-performance system modeled on Bush-era initiatives. - OMB to use workplace rankings in 2011 budget process
(05/20/09)
Nuclear Regulatory Commission stays at the front of the pack for large agencies. - GAO: Defense must make cultural, procedural changes to NSPS
(05/18/09)
Watchdog agency says moving too quickly on pay-for-performance systems undermines their credibility. - Defense Department names task force to review NSPS
(05/15/09)
Panel will investigate whether personnel system is fair and meeting its goals. - Debate erupts over whistleblower rights for intelligence workers
(05/14/09)
Legal experts disagree on whether a pending bill can protect employee rights and national security simultaneously. - Analysis: Making Government Cool Again
(05/01/09)
Without changes in hiring and pay systems, the president will have trouble making good on his promise. - Pay for performance debate centers on incentives
(04/13/09)
Labor leaders say existing General Schedule System provides a variety of ways of rewarding performance. - Intelligence community defends pay-for-performance expansion
(04/09/09)
Human capital chief Ron Sanders says workforce and pay models are different from those operating under the Defense personnel system. - Pay-for-performance faces new scrutiny
(04/07/09)
One agency plans to test a new system even in the face of opposition to the concept from lawmakers and employee groups. - Lawmakers examine logistics of potential NSPS repeal
(04/01/09)
Witnesses say there are no concrete plans for what will happen to employees in the pay-for-performance system if it is abolished, but some models exist. - Personnel pick remains flexible on pay-for-performance systems
(03/26/09)
Nominee John Berry says he would consider any compensation structure that is effective and maintains merit principles.
