The Defense Department has announced which functions and
which locations will be in the first phases of its new
“national security personnel system,” with an initial
group of about 60,000 general schedule line employees and
managers in the first phase, set to launch in summer 2005,
followed by two more phases of roughly six months each
bringing the total to 300,000.
In a letter to affected employees, Mary Lacey, the project
director, promised that a variety of communications forums,
learning events and training sessions on the specifics of
NSPS will be provided prior to conversion. An employee
handbook and tutorial is promised as well.
However, for now the system remains largely undefined,
beyond broad principles announced earlier indicating that
the system will feature pay banding, pay for performance,
hiring and discipline flexibilities and revisions in
appeals and labor relations rights. In a document
accompanying the announcement, DoD acknowledged that the
rules are not expected until sometime in the winter and
will not be finalized until the spring.
However, it said, “the announcement at this time allows the
leadership of those affected organizations to posture
themselves and look ahead as much in advance as possible to
help prepare Spiral One implementation.”
Spiral one involves personnel and appeals rights. Changes
in labor relations policies are to be implemented
department-wide with no phase-in, potentially starting in
the summer.