DoD Reform In Works

A set of sweeping changes to the structure of civilian personnel management in the Defense Department may be drafted as early as March, according to sources involved in the planning process.

In September, GovExec.com reported the Defense Department was considering a wide-ranging package of civilian personnel reforms, including a proposal to place civilians under Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which governs how military personnel are paid and structured.

In an Aug. 11 memorandum, Diane Disney, deputy defense secretary for civilian personnel policy, outlined the Title 10 proposal as well as a new 3-tiered structure for the civilian workforce.

In the proposed structure, Disney wrote, the top tier would be a small, well-trained cadre of permanent employees "sized to represent a 'minimum' or 'constant' workload requirement, and in functions not considered candidates for outsourcing." Below them would be a tier of temporary employees, hired for up to five years, the size of which would be determined by the department's short-term needs. The third layer would be made up of a large pool of contractor employees.

Disney's memo also discussed simplifying job classifications by switching from the General Schedule to a broad-band pay system, integrating some military and civilian benefits, and developing a phased retirement system.

Disney's proposal has since undergone some changes, sources said. Jeff Sumberg, director of field services at the American Federation of Government Employees, said the idea of placing civilians under Title 10 has been dropped. Union leaders had objected to civilians being placed under the same personnel system as service members.

Reform proposals are being reviewed by the Defense Partnership Council, of which AFGE is a member. The council has created five working groups to look at possible reforms and make recommendations on them.

"It makes it a joint labor-management process," Sumberg said.

The council has set March as a target date for putting together a draft legislative package, Sumberg said.