New DHS Rules Are Just a Start

The Department of Homeland Security has formally published, in the February 1 Federal Register, new personnel rules whose general contents had been announced earlier. The publication finishes one phase of a process that started more than two years ago with enactment of the legislation creating DHS, but much work remains to be done, especially in the area of pay for performance. Further guidance is expected to come out over the upcoming months on how that system will operate, as well as how the department will reclassify jobs into “occupational clusters.”