New pay strategy converts 2,000 Hill employees Published Oct. 18, 2007 By Senior Master Sgt. Matt Proietti Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Department of Defense officials will use half of a January 2008 government-wide pay increase to adjust base salaries for eligible National Security Personnel System employees. Remaining funds will be distributed by pay pools based on an assessment of individual employee performance in meeting organization goals. These funds make up one of three funding elements for use by pay pools to effect performance payouts in January 2008. Increases to local market supplements for NSPS employees will mirror the General Schedule increases for locality pay. GPI allocations occur after funds are deducted to support the increases to LMS. The change in pay strategy affects more than 39,000 Air Force employees who have already converted to NSPS, including over 2,000 employees at Hill AFB. Only NSPS employees with acceptable performance ratings are entitled to these adjustments; however, employees who are ineligible for a rating in this cycle will be granted the full GPI and the increase to LMS. "A primary component of NSPS is the pay-for-performance system that provides the department with the tools necessary to compensate and reward its most valuable asset -- our people," said Gordon England, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, in a letter to senior leaders announcing the decision. "The goal of NSPS has always been to move the department to a performance-based culture," said B.J. Barger, deputy director of force management policy. "Secretary England's decision is the next step in giving employees the opportunity to be rewarded for demonstrated performance excellence." NSPS was designed to retain the best features of the former system by preserving core principles such as merit principles and veteran's preference, while adding flexibilities needed by managers and supervisors. The DOD began implemention in April 2006. The first performance-based payouts were made last January, with 97 percent of the covered NSPS workforce receiving a payout, including more than 3,100 Air Force workers. Employees in this initial group were also granted the full regular general schedule pay increase if they had a performance rating of 2 or better. The exact LMS and GPI percentages will not be fully known until the pending Defense Authorization Bill is approved. To learn more about the NSPS, employees are invited to visit the DOD Civilian Personnel Management Service website at http://www.cpms.osd.mil/nsps/ Elise Kidd, human resources specialist from the Directorate of Personnel, contributed to this article.