Defense Department officials have started writing rules
to put in place the alternative civilian personnel
authorities that DoD received a year ago under a budget
law, although the Pentagon is saying that the rules
more likely will come out in January rather than in
December as had been previously indicated. The draft
rules will have to be vetted through the Office of
Personnel Management and Office of Management and Budget
before being published for comment.
The proposed rules on the “national security personnel
system” need to be issued relatively soon in order for
DoD to meet its goal of starting the first phase of the
program in July of next year. The participating
components should be announced soon. That “spiral one”
will be followed by at least two other phases, with at
least parts of the system ultimately affecting some
650,000 employees.
Most recently, executives from DoD components met to
consider various design options for compensation
architecture, pay for performance, pay pool composition,
hiring and internal movement, promoting good performance
and conduct, reduction in force policy and training and
supervisory certification for the “national security
personnel system.”
