Performance Pay Gets Skeptical Hearing

In a session that could help determine the future of pay for performance systems in federal agencies, the House federal workforce subcommittee has held a hearing in which existing programs were criticized and warnings were raised against expanding the concept. Several subcommittee members expressed skepticism about whether current systems were being implemented fairly, noting a arbitrator’s decision from last fall finding that the SEC system had discriminated in its payouts by race and age, and an inspector general report criticizing the system the IRS uses for managers. An SEC official said that agency’s system is being revised, while an IRS official defended that agency’s system as improving efficiency. Federal unions meanwhile repeated their often-voiced criticisms of Bush administration efforts to install pay for performance at DoD and DHS.