Defense holds off on rolling out controversial NSPS rules — for now

By TIM KAUFFMAN

Source: FedTimes.com

The Defense Department says it will not roll out new rules for handling disciplinary actions and labor-management disputes, as had been planned under the new National Security Personnel System (NSPS) — at least for now.

Union leaders have been worried that the department would push forward with the new rules, which were upheld in an appeals court ruling but continue to face stiff opposition from unions and an uncertain future in Congress.

In a Sept. 11 update to its Web site, the department said it has “no plans to implement the adverse actions, appeals and labor relations portions of NSPS at this time.”

Richard Brown, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, said the Pentagon likely is holding off until Congress completes its work on the fiscal 2008 Defense authorization bill. The House version of the bill would prevent the department from curbing employees’ collective bargaining rights or overhauling the process used to appeal adverse or disciplinary actions.

“I believe they are doing the right thing in holding off implementation for a while,” Brown said in a statement. “It would be unfair to make collective bargaining agreements null and void when restoration of bargaining rights is very likely to be restored by Congress in coming months. Waiting to see how the legislation pans out is the responsible thing to do.”

The House measure would not prevent the Pentagon from transferring employees from the General Schedule to a performance-based pay system, although the Pentagon first would have to negotiate terms of such a move with unions.

The Pentagon said it has no plans to move any union employees into NSPS in 2008. The department plans to move 90,000 nonunion employees into the system next year, however, which would bring the total number of employees under the new pay rules to 200,000. Ultimately, the system could cover roughly 650,000 employees