New DHS HR System Contains many Harmful Provisions for Feds

Washington, DC – Last year the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) were granted authority by Congress to recreate their human resources management system.  Their vision for this new system was released in the Federal Register on February 20^th.

The goals of the new system are legitimate; they include such tenets as attracting and maintaining a highly skilled and motivated workforce, rewarding performance and ensuring due process and protecting basic employee rights.  But in reality, the proposed changes, which fall into the areas of pay, performance, classification, labor relations, adverse actions and appeals, will do more to harm DHS employees than to benefit them.

In the areas of pay, performance and classification, DHS claims the new system gives employees greater control over their earning potential, simplifies the structure and creates performance expectations that better reflect the mission of the agency and job requirements.  In actuality, this means there will be pay bands and all jobs will be compensated on a pay-for-performance basis.  In the area of labor relations, DHS maintains that the new provisions will allow the agency to act more swiftly to achieve its mission and also encourages consultation and collaboration with unions.  Instead, union representation will be hindered by making aggressive advocacy subject to disciplinary action.  In addition, department-level regulations will supercede all previous collective bargaining agreements and prevent future bargaining.  DHS promotes a simpler, streamlined process for dealing with adverse actions and appeals.  This really means that there will be no grievance arbitration for adverse actions resulting in more than a 14-day suspension, and a DHS labor relations board, chosen by the Secretary, will replace the FLRA.

 While these proposed changes would be a severe blow to the federal workforce, they are not yet final.  The proposed regulations are now in a 30-day public comment period, providing the opportunity for comments on the proposed regulations.  On behalf of the employees at DHS, and all your brothers and sisters working in the federal sector, please tell DHS what you think of their current plan.  The full text of the plan can be found at http://www.dhs.gov/ and comments can be submitted electronically at www.epa.gov/edocket.