Energy Dept. agency reform pay system
By STEPHEN LOSEY, FederalTimes.com
The Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration will move more than 1,900 non-bargaining unit employees to a new performance pay system in March.
The five-year pilot program also will replace the current system of regular General Schedule step and grade increases with a series of three or four pay bands, depending on an employee’s occupation.
Each pay band will encompass several GS grades and is intended to let managers set higher starting salaries and promote employees more rapidly based on their skills and performance.
The pilot will cover engineers and scientists, nuclear materials couriers, young employees enrolled in NNSA’s future leader program, and technical and administrative employees.
The program, outlined Dec. 21 by the Office of Personnel Management, could eventually be rolled out to all NNSA employees if successful. It is based on similar programs already in place for about 500 NNSA technical experts and nuclear facility safety representatives and about 150,000 Defense Department civilian employees.
Employees will be evaluated annually by their supervisors and assigned one of four performance ratings: does not meet expectations, needs improvement, fully meets expectations, and significantly exceeds expectations.
All employees rated at or above “fully meets expectations” will receive the full annual pay increase all GS employees receive.
But those who are judged to have significantly exceeded expectations in at least one category will receive an additional performance raise from a second pay pool. NNSA will hand out performance raises based on a four-share system.
Those who are not meeting expectations or need improvement will not receive any pay raise.
However, they will have a chance to improve their performance and earn their raise.
Most employees will receive a small pay raise when they are transferred to the new system.
NNSA will pay them a prorated salary increase based on how close they were to receiving another within-grade step increase.
Employees already at the step 10 level will not get a pay raise in March.NNSA said it will train employees, supervisors and managers on the new system before it begins March 16.
The agency hopes the new plan will help it recruit younger workers to take over for large numbers of existing employees who are nearing retirement age.
NNSA wants to offer higher starting salaries and faster career progression to help staff its technical and scientific jobs, for which workers are in high demand and limited supply.
By STEPHEN LOSEY, FederalTimes.com
The Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration will move more than 1,900 non-bargaining unit employees to a new performance pay system in March.
The five-year pilot program also will replace the current system of regular General Schedule step and grade increases with a series of three or four pay bands, depending on an employee’s occupation.
Each pay band will encompass several GS grades and is intended to let managers set higher starting salaries and promote employees more rapidly based on their skills and performance.
The pilot will cover engineers and scientists, nuclear materials couriers, young employees enrolled in NNSA’s future leader program, and technical and administrative employees.
The program, outlined Dec. 21 by the Office of Personnel Management, could eventually be rolled out to all NNSA employees if successful. It is based on similar programs already in place for about 500 NNSA technical experts and nuclear facility safety representatives and about 150,000 Defense Department civilian employees.
Employees will be evaluated annually by their supervisors and assigned one of four performance ratings: does not meet expectations, needs improvement, fully meets expectations, and significantly exceeds expectations.
All employees rated at or above “fully meets expectations” will receive the full annual pay increase all GS employees receive.
But those who are judged to have significantly exceeded expectations in at least one category will receive an additional performance raise from a second pay pool. NNSA will hand out performance raises based on a four-share system.
Those who are not meeting expectations or need improvement will not receive any pay raise.
However, they will have a chance to improve their performance and earn their raise.
Most employees will receive a small pay raise when they are transferred to the new system.
NNSA will pay them a prorated salary increase based on how close they were to receiving another within-grade step increase.
Employees already at the step 10 level will not get a pay raise in March.NNSA said it will train employees, supervisors and managers on the new system before it begins March 16.
The agency hopes the new plan will help it recruit younger workers to take over for large numbers of existing employees who are nearing retirement age.
NNSA wants to offer higher starting salaries and faster career progression to help staff its technical and scientific jobs, for which workers are in high demand and limited supply.
Comments
Oh, I see. NNSA allocated zero percentr yealy raises to all LLNL employees, broke apart the UC retirement, and now realizes some of us are in high demand? Funny stuff, in a Dilbert kind of way.
I'm sure they can. And that coincides with the next layoff plans as well. Hope you enjoy your extra 5% as you are being walked out the door.
Not yet but as soon as LLNL projects become DoD funded you're going to see some changes. Just watch and you'll see. I've been waiting for this for a long time and with DoD my military service would have counted toward retirement where as DOE / UC had no respect and did not honor any time for the military or the people that served. All they cared about were the draft dodgers and college deferment boys. aka the clan.
If it wasn't for the rules of posting on this blog I'd tell them what I really think.
Not yet but as soon as LLNL projects become DoD funded you're going to see some changes. "
Please explain this. LLNL already does more than $100M of DoD work, and there's nothing I'm aware of in those projects that reflects what you say with regards to retirement. I'm pretty sure you don't get credit for military service in the private retirement systems of other government contractors (like Boeing, Raytheon, LockMart, and Bechtel).
I think civilian federal staff do get credit in the federal retirement system for military service, but that's irrelevant here.
If LLNL were federalized (like TSA did with the airport screeners), you might get credit. But I can't imagine that happening. Are there any healthy federal labs left? I think most are gone or contracted out.
When I was civil service all of my military time counted towards the 30 years required to retire. At that time I was on the STEP system, GS / WG. I use to think it was bad until I came to LLNL and got on the merit system. I thought the merit system was good until I got a grasp on how managers manipulated the pay raises in favor of their "BOYS" who could do no wrong even when they were out performed by many who did twice the work with one hand tied behind my back. It wasn't the hard work or getting the job done that was not important. What is important is how one is perceived or many cases who they know. Once you achieve brotherhood your SKA's just seemed to fall in place when you're in tight with someone who sits at the round table during ranking.
Having seen both sides of the fence and the results of both I'd gladly take the civil service STEP in a heartbeat.
I have to agree. The SKA ranking is a total joke. The appraisal time of a year is just a chance for managers to pick and choose who they want to keep, based on whatever factors they want. Totally selective, total management control. SKAs rarely play out from what I have seen.