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USACE transitions from National Security Personnel System to General Schedule May 23
Posted May 10, 2010
By Office of Public Affairs
Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
05/10/2010 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Defense Authorization Act of 2010, signed Oct. 28, 2009, by President Barack Obama, repeals the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) and requires all employees under that system to transition into another performance management system no later than Jan. 1, 2012.
The Defense Department (DoD), the Army and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) are committed to managing the transition with minimal disruption to our extremely valuable civilian workforce and the critical missions we carry out around the globe, said DoD leadership.
The Army will transition most of its NSPS employees to the General Schedule (GS) during fiscal year 2010, which ends Sept. 30. USACE will transition to the GS system May 23, 2010.
"I am committed to an open, strategic and smooth transition from NSPS, and want to thank all of the employees and managers who have worked so hard to write clear objectives…and to promote and sustain a high performance culture in a fair and equitable manner while meeting the needs of our organization," said Lt. Gen. Robert L. Van Antwerp, USACE commanding general.
Legislative mandates
To achieve successful transition into the GS performance management system, Section 1113 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010 mandated that:
- No employee will suffer loss of pay upon conversion. For example, if an employee's pay falls between two steps, the employee will go to the higher step. Those whose pay falls above step 10 of their GS position will be on retained pay and will receive 50 percent of the January General Pay Increase until the GS pay system catches up with their retained pay.
- The Secretary of Defense must plan an enterprise performance management system and present it to Congress by Jan. 2012.
- The workforce must be trained. DoD and the Army have posted on-line information to help educate supervisors and employees about GS pay system rules and regulations (Chapter 53 of Title 5 of the United States Code) on classification, hiring and pay setting procedures (e.g., Time in Grade; short-term and temporary appointments; ‘rule of three' when hiring non-Government employees) and collective bargaining obligations. These resources include: Classifying Positions under GS: A Primer for Supervisors; GS 101; Guidance Governing NSPS Transition Period – Prior to Termination; NSPS to GS Transition Guide (Chapters 1 to 4); NSPS Transition Simulator; Performance Management: A Tool to Achieve Results; and Chapter 6: Frequently Asked Questions.
Effects on 2010 performance management plans
In general, USACE NSPS performance objectives were an improvement — they were SMART (specific; measurable; aligned with mission; realistic; and timed), and they helped employees identify how their duties and responsibilities help the Corps accomplish its mission and relate to the USACE Campaign Plan, said USACE officials, who added:
- We will continue to use NSPS performance objectives in the Total Army Performance Evaluation System (TAPES).
- As a result, all objectives must be approved in the NSPS Performance Appraisal Application (PAA) by May 22, 2010; otherwise employees will not have access to their performance information maintained in the PAA after conversion.
- All interim reviews should be communicated to the employee, then documented and returned to the employee via the PAA.
- For those transitioning out of NSPS, the current performance year consists of NSPS time (Oct. 1, 2009 – May 22, 2010) and GS/TAPES time (May 23, 2010 – Oct. 31, 2010) for a single performance year of Oct. 1, 2009 – Oct. 31, 2010.
Facts and figures
- Prior to conversion, there were 226,000 NSPS employees in DoD; 82,000 in the Army; and 17,500 USACE employees.
- More than 75 percent of the Army's NSPS employees will transition during FY10; USACE will transition May 23, 2010
- USACE exceptions include: Task Force Hope/Hurricane Protection Office; deployed employees; any organization approved for transition to the Acquisition Personnel System or the Science and Technology Reinvention Lab Demo Project.
- Additional information is available at:
Updated: 10-May-2010