Federal Daily - June 22, 2009

Panel Adopts Measure Barring NSPS from Adding New Hires

The House Armed Services Committee on June 17 unanimously adopted a measure prohibiting new DoD civilian hires from being placed into the National Security Personnel System (NSPS). The NSPS amendment was sponsored by Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., and was inserted into H.R. 2647, the FY 2010 National Defense Authorization Act. DoD’s pay-for-performance system has been criticized because many of the employees that fall under its jurisdiction do not believe that the system rates and compensates them fairly for their job performance, Shea-Porter said. Under the bill, NSPS employees would be returned to the General Schedule (GS) pay system within a year, a full nationwide adjustment would be made to those federal employees working under NSPS, and no existing employees would be reclassified into NSPS as of June 16. “NSPS has been a failure,” said Shea-Porter. “The majority of employees in NSPS prefer the prior [GS] system and numerous studies have shown that the implementation of NSPS has been plagued by inequities in how employees are compensated and rated.” DoD has suspended conversion of current DoD employees from GS into NSPS while the pay system is under review by the Defense Business Board’s NSPS Task Force—which is slated to release a report this September. To see more, go to: www.shea-porter.house.gov/index.php?option=
com_content&task=view&id=374&Itemid=67 or http://armedservices.house.gov/apps/list/press/
armedsvc_dem/skeltonpr061709.shtml.

:: Back to Top ::

Clinton Details Domestic Partner Benefits for Foreign Service Employees

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on June 18 detailed a range of federal benefits available to same-sex partners of Foreign Service employees under President Obama’s new executive order easing some benefits restrictions. As part of the order, each agency is to review what type of benefits can be extended to domestic partners. Clinton said a State Department analysis showed that a variety of legally available benefits and allowances that could be extended. For example, same-sex domestic partners of Foreign Service employees serving overseas are now eligible for diplomatic passports, inclusion on employee travel orders to and from posts abroad, inclusion in family size calculations, medical evacuation from posts abroad, representation expenses and training at the Foreign Service Institute. “Changing our policy to provide training, medical care and other benefits to same-sex domestic partners will promote the cohesiveness safety and effectiveness of our posts abroad,” Clinton said. “It will help the department attract and retain personnel in a competitive environment.” To qualify on behalf of a same-sex domestic partner, a Foreign Service employee must file an affidavit identifying his or her same-sex domestic partner and certifying to certain eligibility requirements, Clinton said. To see more, go to:  www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/06/125083.htm.

:: Back to Top ::

AFGE Voices Support for Frontline VA Claims Workers

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) voiced support for employees in the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) who are attempting to resolve what AFGE calls a “million-plus claims backlog.” Testifying June 18 before the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, AFGE officials said it has offered VBA solutions to further educate employees on how to more effectively manage the processing of veterans disability benefits claims. To improve efficiency and reduce processing times, VBA should move towards a paperless file system, said Michael Ratajczak , an AFGE member and decision review officer at the VBA regional office in Cleveland. Ratajczak said VBA could start by making sure all documents associated with initial claims are available to adjudicators in electronic format, and that existing claims files could be converted to electronic files prior to being transferred between VBA review officers. AFGE officials applauded Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric Shinseki’s willingness to involve frontline employees and labor representatives as key stakeholders in addressing the backlog. “For many years, we were seen as part of the problem instead of part of the solution,” said Alma Lee, president of AFGE’s National VA Council. “Frontline employees who work in these areas have invaluable institutional knowledge and really should be relied upon to help fix the cracks in the system.” To see more, go to: www.afge.org/Index.cfm?Page=PressReleases&PressReleaseID=1004.

:: Back to Top ::