|
|
NOT ALL TO GET EXPECTED
RAISE.
BELOW IS AN EXCERPT SHOWING THAT WE WERE LIED TO.
In a set of questions and answers distributed to offices, the Pentagon
acknowledges that employees were told to expect the full pay raise in
January and that it now appears officials have changed their minds.
However,
officials simply had not decided at that point how to address the
government
wide increase, the Pentagon says in response. It is at the secretary's
discretion each year whether to include any or all of the base pay raise
in
the pay pool used to set performance-based increases.
September 18th, 2007
Pay reform means smaller raises at DoD
By TIM KAUFFMAN
September 14, 2007
Many of the 110,000 Defense Department employees covered by the new
performance-based pay system won't be getting the raise they think they
will
in January.
That's because Defense Secretary Robert Gates has decided not to award
them
the same across-the-board, cost-of-living pay raise that other federal
employees will receive. In 2008, that raise is expected to be 3.5
percent.
Instead, employees covered by the National Security Personnel System
(NSPS)
will get an across-the-board raise half that size. The money that would
normally pay for the other half of that raise will instead go into a
separate pot to fund performance-based pay increases.
Pentagon offices were notified early this week of the decision, which
comes
as a shock to many employees who were told they would receive their
normal
across-the-board pay raise in January plus an additional performance
raise.
"We had been told all along [that] those moved into NSPS early [this
year]
would get the full cost-of-living raise," said an Army Corps of
Engineers
employee who asked not to be identified. "They have changed their
minds."
Most employees haven't completed a full year under NSPS, meaning some
may
see an adverse impact on their pay as a result of appraisals that do not
reflect a full year's work.
During mock exercises this spring to test the performance-appraisal and
pay-setting process, offices were told to exclude the general pay raise
from
the calculation. Many assumed, erroneously it turned out, that this was
because the full pay raise would be distributed to all employees, just
as it
was this year.
In a set of questions and answers distributed to offices, the Pentagon
acknowledges that employees were told to expect the full pay raise in
January and that it now appears officials have changed their minds.
However,
officials simply had not decided at that point how to address the
government wide increase, the Pentagon says in response. It is at the
secretary's discretion each year whether to include any or all of the
base
pay raise in the pay pool used to set performance-based increases.
"The department now has broader experience with a pay-for-performance
system
than it had when first implementing NSPS," the Pentagon said in the
questions and answers it distributed throughout the department. "Based
on
our experience with the first performance cycle under NSPS, department
leadership is ready to take this incremental step with a more robust
pay-for-performance system."
How the 2008 raises will work
Under the new payout, employees performing above the unacceptable level
will
receive half of the base pay raise given to General Schedule employees,
plus
the full locality increase that goes to all employees. The remaining
half of
the base pay raise will go into the performance pay pool.
It's uncertain at this point how much of a guaranteed increase Defense
employees under NSPS will receive. If Congress approves a 3.5 percent
increase, as appears likely, it will be up to the White House to
determine
how much of that increase will be divided between an across-the-board
raise
and a locality increase.
Assuming the base raise is set at 3 percent, NSPS employees rated above
unacceptable would receive half of that, or 1.5 percent, plus the 0.5
percent locality raise that will vary based on where employees work. The
remaining 1.5 percent would be added to performance pay pools and
distributed based on individual performance.
By carving out part of the across-the-board pay raise for performance
increases, some employees rated as valued performers - a 3 out of 5 -
could
end up receiving a smaller pay raise than they would have under the
General
Schedule, depending on how the performance raises are allocated.
Last year, 97 percent of the 11,000 employees who had been evaluated at
that
point under NSPS received either a performance-based pay raise or bonus,
or
both, in addition to the across-the-board pay raise.
Pentagon employees not under NSPS will continue to receive the full
increase
that goes to other General Schedule workers. In addition, about 90,000
employees who will be transferred to NSPS in November also will receive
the
full 3.5 percent across-the-board raise.
Labor-management changes on hold
So far, personnel rules changes under NSPS have been limited to pay and
performance appraisals affecting nonunion employees.
That's because of opposition from unions and some lawmakers to other
changes
concerning how disciplinary actions and labor-management disputes are
handled.
Although the department won a key victory in a federal appeals court
recently that upholds the planned changes to the department's
labor-management rules, the Pentagon disclosed on its Web site Sept. 11
that
it has "no plans to implement the adverse actions, appeals and labor
relations portions of NSPS at this time."
Union leaders have been worried that the department would push forward
with
the new rules, which were upheld in an appeals court ruling but continue
to
face stiff opposition from unions and an uncertain future in Congress.
Richard Brown, president of the National Federation of Federal
Employees,
said the Pentagon likely is holding off until Congress completes its
work on
the fiscal 2008 Defense authorization bill.
The House-passed version of the bill would prevent the department from
curbing employees' collective bargaining rights or overhauling the
process
used to appeal adverse or disciplinary actions. The Senate's version,
which
hasn't been approved by the full Senate yet, would restore collective
bargaining rights and exempt blue-collar workers from the system,
although
it doesn't address the appeals process.
"I believe they are doing the right thing in holding off implementation
for
a while," Brown said in a statement. "It would be unfair to make
collective
bargaining agreements null and void when restoration of bargaining
rights is
very likely to be restored by Congress in coming months. Waiting to see
how
the legislation pans out is the responsible thing to do."
The House measure would not prevent the Pentagon from transferring
employees
from the General Schedule to a performance-based pay system, although
the
Pentagon first would have to negotiate terms of such a move with unions.
The Pentagon said it has no plans to move any union employees into NSPS
in
2008. The department plans to move 90,000 nonunion employees into the
system
next year, however, which would bring the total number of employees
under
the new pay rules to 200,000. Ultimately, the system could cover roughly
650,000 employees.
|
|