DHS Scales Back Personnel Reform Plans

DHS has said it will scale back its efforts to overhaul many of its personnel policies, effectively putting the program known up until now as MaxHR on hold for at least two years. The MaxHR system design included changes to many basic personnel policies, including pay banding and pay for performance, revised appeals rights and restrictions on union rights. However, the labor-management and appeals provisions have been blocked by court order; while the order didn’t affect the other provisions, DHS has struggled to move forward on them in the face of union and employee opposition—much of it focused on the performance rating system–and skepticism in Congress that resulted in budget cuts. DHS now plans a pilot project to be started next year for intelligence-related jobs, leaving the decision on how to proceed from there to the next presidential administration. DHS also said it was dropping the name MaxHR and will call its personnel program the human capital operational plan, with an emphasis for now on initiatives such as training and leadership development.