Group suggests compromise on homeland security personnel rules

A nonprofit group on Wednesday proposed a set of civil service reforms that it said could serve as a compromise in the battle between unions representing federal employees and the Bush administration over personnel rules for the new Department of Homeland Security.

The Partnership for Public Service, a Washington-based advocacy group, issued a report suggesting three changes to civil service rules for the new department. The changes would include a pay-banding system, new hiring procedures and special authority to offer buyouts and early retirement incentives to employees.

The partnership's proposed changes are more limited than the Bush administration's proposal for near-total autonomy over personnel, but more expansive than existing civil service rules, which federal employees' unions want to retain for the new department.

"This may be a means of resolving the conflict," said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service. "This gets away from the no rules versus old rules debate."

The battle over personnel rules has been a key stumbling block in the progress of legislation to create the Department of Homeland Security, which would merge almost two dozen federal agencies and offices and 170,000 federal employees into one new Cabinet department. The Bush administration's proposal would give the secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the director of the Office of Personnel Management, the power to create a personnel system that is "flexible, contemporary and grounded in the public employment principles of merit and fitness."

The current federal personnel system, in contrast, lays out extensive rules that govern every major aspect of human resources management. Union officials and lawmakers who oppose changes say the system protects federal employees from political influence, guards the employees' union rights, and tries to ensure that managers treat their people fairly.

"By getting rid of a lot of the civil service protections, management on a whim could fire whomever they wanted to and hire their brother-in-law," said Diane Witiak, spokeswoman for the American Federation of Government Employees. "That's one of the reasons we have the rules: To get rid of the cronyism. Now we're backtracking all the way."

Under the partnership's proposal, most civil service rules would be left intact. Among the changes:

• The department could use a system of broad pay bands rather than the General Schedule's hierarchy of grades and steps to set employees' pay. The department could also offer higher pay rates to senior people with important skills.
• The department could use categorical ranking rather than requiring managers to select from a list of three top candidates when hiring employees.
• The department could offer early outs and buyouts to replace employees with outdated skills. Unlike the buyouts used in downsizing during the 1990s, a full-time position at the department would not have to be eliminated every time someone took a buyout.

The House-passed version of the Department of Homeland Security legislation includes more restrictions on the new department's power over personnel than the Bush administration proposal did. The version approved by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee was even more strict in protecting established rules. The full Senate has yet to take up the bill.

Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, sponsored a provision in the current Senate bill that would extend several of the partnership's proposed changes to most federal agencies, not just the Department of Homeland Security. The only proposal not included is the pay-banding provision.

AFGE's Witiak said retaining collective bargaining rights is important to federal workers, noting that the issue wasn't addressed in the partnership's report. Stier said the partnership supports employee involvement in day-to-day management.

Office of Personnel Management spokesman Rusty Asher said officials are reviewing the partnership's report.