The measure’s restrictions on NSPS could effectively turn it into a pilot program for managers and other employees not represented by unions—so far everyone brought into NSPS, or scheduled to be, is not union represented. One provision bars wage grade employees, many of whom are unionized in DoD, from coming under NSPS. Another requires bargaining over any changes in pay practices should union-represented employees be brought into the system—potentially a long and difficult process. Unions say they would raise issues such as the standards to be used in ratings, the transparency of the process, and protections against the use of forced ratings distributions. Faced with similar union opposition, for example, the IRS has applied its own similar authorities only to managerial employees, not to rank and file employees.
