DoD Reforms to Take at Least Two Years

Implementation of the recently approved “national security personnel system” for the Defense Department will occur “over at least two years” starting in the current fiscal year, according to a briefing paper prepared by the Pentagon. The paper notes that DoD has been granted extensive new authorities in compensation and personnel decisions ranging from hiring to firing, but that certain strings are attached. The new system must be designed in “coordination with” the Office of Personnel Management, there must be collaboration with employee representatives and a “minimum 90-day period of discussion, mediation and notification to Congress of differences.” Discussions with employee representatives are to begin within two months of the law’s signing, the paper indicates, which would mean by late January.