Base officials brief NSPS to GS conversion

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Sondra Escutia
  • 49th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  The 49th Force Support Squadron Civilian Personnel Section held briefings June 2 and 10 to address concerns regarding the recent announcement that Air Force civilians under the National Security Personnel System will convert to the General Schedule by the end of the fiscal year.

The conversion was mandated by the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act and will affect approximately 250 civilians working at Holloman.

"We held the briefings to try to alleviate people's fears," said Sandra Power, 49th FSS Human Resource Specialist. "There is a lot of fear of the unknown. This is a major change and a lot of our employees were never in the GS system, so basically we just wanted to let people know we hear their concerns and we want to address them."

Air Force NSPS employees at Holloman will make the transition to the GS on Aug. 15, 2010, according to Headquarters Air Force Directorate of Force Management Policy.

With the transition date approaching, the briefings allowed the Civilian Personnel Section to answer numerous questions and concerns, the prevalent of which addressed changes in pay.

"The Department of Defense has promised that nobody loses pay upon conversion. Even so, people are apprehensive that is not necessarily [going to happen], but nobody is going to lose pay," said Ms. Power. "The main concern from people is they are not getting a payout this year for acceptable performance, but that was a DoD decision."

Except to the extent necessary to prevent a reduction in pay, GS regulations will apply to pay upon transition to the GS system, including the yearly pay increase and adjustments to locality pay, she said. Upon transition, GS regulations will also apply to the classification of NSPS positions.

"Under the NSPS, we had four categories each with either three or four pay bands for all employees," Ms. Power said. "Under the GS system we have 15 grades and each grade has 10 steps and people with acceptable performance get an automatic raise in a scheduled timeframe."

Civilian employees transitioning to GS will have their positions classified and grade assigned according to GS classification rules, according to an Air Force press release. The grade and classification will be based upon responsibilities assigned by the supervisor and performed by the employee. Employees will be notified of their GS position classification upon transition out of NSPS.

Base officials encourage concerned personnel to contact the Civilian Personnel Section with any questions regarding the conversion to make the transition as smooth as possible.

"This has been an ongoing issue for us across the DoD and we very much recognize that this impacts a lot of folks across the board. Our goal here is really to make sure we're getting the information out to you," said Col. Jeff Harrigian, 49th Fighter Wing commander. "I ask you to ask the hard questions and recognize that there is going to be some friction along the way. Our intent is to make sure you have all the information and are given an opportunity to ask those tough questions."

For more information on the NSPS to GS conversion, visit the DoD NSPS Transition Office Web site at http://www.cpms.osd.mil/nsps/transition or call the Civilian Personnel Section at 575-572-3588 or 575-572-7037.