FederalDaily - October 28, 2005
NSPS Final Regulations Released
The Department of Defense (DoD) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
on Oct. 26 released the final regulations to establish a new personnel system
for approximately 650,000 of DoD’s civilians, called the National Security
Personnel System (NSPS). The regulations govern pay, staffing, classification,
performance management, labor relations, adverse actions and employee appeals.
DoD plans to convert employees into NSPS over the next few years. Employees
will not lose pay as a result of the transition. Supplementary information
accompanying the new regulations said as DoD moves away from the General Schedule
to pay banding, it will be come more competitive in setting salaries. Under
NSPS, pay increases will be based on performance, not time-in-grade. For more
on this story, see the upcoming Oct. 31, 2005 , issue of Federal Employees
News Digest. To subscribe, click here.
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Proposal to Fix Law Enforcement Pay System
The current system governing pay and retirement benefits for federal law
enforcement officers (LEOs) is built on outdated concepts and does not meet
the needs of the LEOs, according to a concept paper for a federal law enforcement
personnel system released Wednesday by Republican congressmen. “ Because
of the outdated definition of a law enforcement officer, some specialized categories
of employees are excluded from enhanced law enforcement compensation and retirement
benefits,” the report said. The authors of the report hope it will generate
discussion of the creation of reformed pay and benefit systems for all employees
of the executive branch who are in law enforcement positions. For more on this
story, see the upcoming Oct. 31, 2005 , issue of Federal Employees News Digest.
To subscribe, click here.
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Increasing Disapproval of Federal Government
The perception of the federal government has become increasingly negative
amongst the U.S. population as a whole, according to a study by the Pew Research
Center for the People and the Press. Over the past year, the federal government’s
favorable ratings dropped from 59 to 45 percent, even further down from a recent
high of 73 percent in April of 2003. The study surveyed just over 2,000 Americans
during the period of Oct. 12 to Oct. 24. Positive opinion of the Department
of Defense (DoD) has also declined. Independents’ approval of DoD dropped
22 points (down to 54 percent), while DoD approval among Democrats dropped
35 points (down to 41 percent). DoD’s favorability with Republicans has
remained steady, holding at 82 percent.
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Federal Agencies Required to Share Terrorism Intel
Federal agencies must now enhance efforts to disseminate and communicate
information and intelligence related to terrorism to other agencies involved
in homeland security efforts, thanks to Executive Order 13356, recently signed
by President Bush. The order states that agencies with terrorism information “shall
promptly give access to the terrorism information to the head of each other
agency that has counterterrorism functions, and provide the terrorism information
to each such agency, unless otherwise directed by the President.” In
addition, an Information Sharing Council is to be established consisting of
members from several agencies, including the State Department, FBI, CIA, Office
and Management and Budget, Department of Defense and the Director of National
Intelligence. For more, go to www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/10/20051025-5.html.
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