What May Lie Ahead for Homeland Security Employees

Some 170,000 employees currently working in nearly two dozen agencies who will be moved into a new Homeland Security Department under legislation sent to President Bush eventually will see significant changes in personnel policies applying to them, since the new department will have a mandate to have “flexible” and “contemporary” personnel policies. Although details have not yet been set, it’s generally assumed among civil service leaders that the agency will craft separate job classification, hiring, disciplinary, performance evaluation and pay-setting practices. It’s also generally assumed that officials in charge of the new policies will look for precedent to various demonstration projects that have tested alternative personnel practices-such as pay banding, which gives agencies greater discretion in setting salaries-as well as to individual agencies that have special authorities for evaluating, promoting and disciplining employees, such as the IRS and Federal Aviation Administration.