Notice2023-06766
Personnel Demonstration Project; Pay Banding and Performance-Based Pay Adjustments in the National Nuclear Security Administration
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
April 4, 2023
Issuing agencies
Personnel Management Office
Abstract
The Civil Service Reform Act, authorizes the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to conduct demonstration projects that experiment with new and different human resources management concepts to determine whether changes in policies or procedures would result in improved Federal human resources management. On December 21, 2007, OPM published a document in the Federal Register announcing final approval of a demonstration project plan for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a separately organized agency within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This notice constitutes OPM's approval of a modification of NNSA's final project plan to change performance rating levels and a related change to the performance rating level pay shares.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 64 (Tuesday, April 4, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 4, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19991-19993]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06766]
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OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
Personnel Demonstration Project; Pay Banding and Performance-
Based Pay Adjustments in the National Nuclear Security Administration
AGENCY: U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
ACTION: Notice of approval of a modification to a demonstration project
final plan.
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SUMMARY: The Civil Service Reform Act, authorizes the Office of
Personnel Management (OPM) to conduct demonstration projects that
experiment with new and different human resources management concepts
to determine whether changes in policies or procedures would result in
improved Federal human resources management. On December 21, 2007, OPM
published a document in the Federal Register announcing final approval
of a demonstration project plan for the National Nuclear Security
Administration (NNSA), a separately organized agency within the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE). This notice constitutes OPM's approval of a
modification of NNSA's final project plan to change performance rating
levels and a related change to the performance rating level pay shares.
DATES: These modifications to NNSA's demonstration project final plan
are effective immediately upon publication of this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: National Nuclear Security
Administration: Melanie Ramirez, 505-261-6338,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#cea3aba2afa0a7abe0bcafa3a7bcabb48ea0a0bdafe0aaa1abe0a9a1b8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b8d5ddd4d9d6d1dd96cad9d5d1caddc2f8d6d6cbd996dcd7dd96dfd7ce">[email protected]</span></a>. Office of Personnel Management: Michael
Bostwick, 720-308-3265, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d6bbbfb5beb7b3baf8b4b9a5a2a1bfb5bd96b9a6bbf8b1b9a0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9af7f3f9f2fbfff6b4f8f5e9eeedf3f9f1daf5eaf7b4fdf5ec">[email protected]</span></a>.
[[Page 19992]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background
OPM approved NNSA's demonstration project final plan and it was
published in the Federal Register on December 21, 2007 (72 FR 72776).
The demonstration project was implemented on March 16, 2008, modified
by three technical corrections to the final project plan on July 31,
2008, as published in the Federal Register (73 FR 44786) and modified
by minor administrative changes, one participating organization change,
and two employee coverage changes on February 14, 2014 (79 FR 9007).
All employees of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program in the
competitive services (as defined in section 2102 of title 5, United
States Code) and all employees of the Department of Navy who are
assigned to the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program and are in the
excepted services (as defined in section 2103 of title 5, United States
Code) participate in the NNSA's demonstration project. With the
publishing of the current NNSA Act on February 24,2020, NNSA's
demonstration project was extended for 10 years from the date of
publication.
NNSA's demonstration project has been evaluated routinely with the
latest evaluation taking place in 2017. These evaluations resulted in
overall positive results.
2. Statement of Purpose
The principal purposes of the NNSA demonstration project are to--
(1) Modify and simplify the General Schedule (GS) classification
system by establishing pay bands which may cover more than one grade;
and
(2) Modify the GS pay system to base pay increases on performance
distinctions made under a credible, strategically aligned performance
appraisal program and thereby improve the results-oriented performance
culture within the organization.
The primary goals of the project are to:
(1) Improve hiring by allowing NNSA to compete more effectively for
high quality employees through the judicious use of higher entry
salaries;
(2) Motivate and retain staff by providing faster pay progression
for high-performing employees;
(3) Improve the usefulness and responsiveness of the position
classification system to managers;
(4) Increase the efficiency of administering the position
classification system through a simplified pay-banded application of
the current General Schedule grade structure, and reduce the procedural
steps and documentation requirements traditionally associated with
classifying positions;
(5) Eliminate automatic pay increases (i.e., annual adjustments
that normally take effect the first day of the first pay period
beginning on or after January 1) by making pay increases performance
sensitive, so that only Fully Successful (known as ``Fully Meets
Expectations'' in NNSA) and higher performers will receive pay
adjustments, and the best performers will receive the largest pay
adjustments;
(6) Integrate with, build upon, and advance the work of several key
human capital management improvement initiatives and projects currently
underway in NNSA, including--
a. Advancing the ongoing refinement of NNSA's enterprise-wide
performance management program, including automated refinements,
b. Achieving greater parity, though not complete harmony, with
NNSA's mature excepted service pay-banded and pay-for-performance
system (e.g., will have a lower high-end pay band; no automatic pay
increases, etc.),
c. Building on the simplified position description (PD) format and
automated PD library that are already in place,
d. Continuing to develop improved performance management skills
among first-line supervisors through increased program rigor,
additional training, and better guidance materials, to better develop
standards that reflect differences in performance,
e. Establishing a system of career enhancing career paths for the
purpose of developing, advancing, and retaining employees,
f. Building on the workforce analysis and planning system, already
in place, to identify FTE needs and competency needs and skills gaps,
to conduct a valid occupational analysis to construct meaningful pay
bands.
To accomplish these goals, NNSA modified and waived parts of the GS
classification and pay system by identifying broad career paths,
establishing pay bands which often combined grades, eliminating
longevity-based step progression, and providing for annual pay
increases based on performance.
3. Description of Changes to the Project Plan
NNSA amends the original demonstration project final plan (72 FR
72776) to make two significant changes to the NNSA demonstration
project performance rating system. One change concerns performance
rating levels and one change concerns the number of performance shares
assigned to identified performance rating levels.
(1) Performance Rating Levels Change
Section III, B.1. indicates the NNSA current performance appraisal
program uses a four-level rating pattern to both summarize performance
and to appraise performance at the element level. Its summary level
pattern under 5 CFR 430.208(d) uses Levels 1, 2, 3, and 5, which NNSA
has labeled Does Not Meet Expectations, Needs Improvement, Fully Meets
Expectations, and Significantly Exceeds Expectations, respectively.
NNSA believes that a rating recognizing employee performance above
the Fully Meets Expectations (FME) level but not at the level of
Significantly Exceeds Expectations (SEE) is a potential motivating
factor for employees. In response, NNSA is altering the current
Performance Rating titles to better reflect levels of employee
performance to recognize employees who exceed expectations but do not
meet the requirements for the SEE performance rating.
Section III, B.1. is updated to read ``The program currently uses a
five-level rating pattern to both summarize performance and to appraise
performance at the element level, its summary level pattern under 5 CFR
430.208(d) uses Levels 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, which NNSA has labeled Does
Not Meet Expectations, Needs Improvement, Fully Meets Expectations,
Exceeds Expectations, and Significantly Exceeds Expectations,
respectively.''
(2) Performance-Based Pay Adjustments--Performance Shares Change
Section III, C.2. discusses how performance shares are distributed
based on performance rating level and states: ``Initially, the number
of shares for each rating level will be as follows: 4 shares are
assigned to a Significantly Exceeds Expectations summary rating when an
employee receives SEE ratings in all critical elements; 3 shares are
assigned when an employee receives a summary rating of SEE, but one or
more critical elements are rated at FME; 2 shares are assigned to an
FME summary rating when one or more critical elements are rated at SEE;
and 1 share is assigned to an FME summary rating when no critical
element is rated below FME. Employees who receive a final summary
rating of FME with one critical element rated at the NI level are not
eligible for any shares from the performance pay pool.''
[[Page 19993]]
The table below, which is included in the DEMO Policies and
Procedures Manual, illustrates the current performance share
distribution.
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Summary rating level Derivation Shares
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Level 4--Significantly Exceeds All Specific Performance 4
Expectations (SEE). Objectives (SPOs) are
rated at the SEE level.
A majority of the SPOs 3
are rated at the SEE
level and the remaining
SPOs rated at the FME
level.
Level 3--Fully Meets Expectations There is an equal amount 2
(FME). of SPOs rated at the SEE
and FME levels, or a
majority of the SPOs are
rated at the FME level
with the remaining SPOs
rated at the SEE level.
All SPOs are rated at the 1
FME level.
Level 2--Needs Improvement (NI).. One or more NI SPOs with 0
none rated DNME.
Level 1--Does Not Meet One or more SPOs rated 0
Expectations (DNME). DNME.
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Section III, C.2. is updated to read ``The number of shares for
each rating level will be as follows: 4 shares are assigned to a
Significantly Exceeds Expectations summary rating when an employee
receives SEE ratings in all critical elements; 3 shares are assigned
when an employee receives a summary rating of EE, when a majority of
SPOs are rated SEE or EE and the remaining are rated FME; 2 shares are
assigned to an FME summary rating when an equal amount of SEE or EE and
FME SPOs, or a majority are rated FME and the remaining are rated SEE
or EE; 1 share is assigned to an FME rating when all SPOs are rated FME
and no critical element is rated below FME. Employees who receive a
final summary rating of FME with one or more critical elements rated at
the NI level are not eligible for any shares from the performance pay
pool.''
The performance share distribution is updated to reflect the
implementation of the five-level performance rating change. Pay share
distribution is outlined in the table below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary rating level Derivation Shares
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level 5--Significantly Exceeds All SPOs are rated SEE... 4
Expectations (SEE).
Level 4--Exceeds Expectations Majority of SPOs are 3
(EE). rated SEE or EE and the
remaining are rated FME.
Level 3--Fully Meets Expectations Equal SEE or EE and FME 2
(FME). SPOs or majority are
rated FME and the
remaining are rated SEE
or EE.
All SPOs are rated FME... 1
Level 2--Needs Improvement (NI).. One or more NI SPOs with 0
none rated DNME..
Level 1--Does Not Meet One or more SPOs rated 0
Expectations (DNME). DNME.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This change will take effect immediately upon publication and the
rating share pattern will be applied in computing performance-based
shares at the end of FY 2023 performance appraisal period. This table
will be incorporated into the NNSA DEMO policies and procedures manual.
4. Notification Responsibilities
As required by 5 CFR 470.315, NNSA has the following notification
responsibilities for this project modification: Notify and make copies
of this Federal Register notice available to all employees affected by
the activities of the demonstration project.
U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Stephen Hickman,
Federal Register Liaison.
Approval
Pursuant to 5 CFR 470.315, OPM approves the following modification
to NNSA's final project plan.
Specific Textual Changes to the Project Plan
In FR Doc. 07-6144, published on December 21, 2007 (72 FR 72776),
make the following textual changes:
(1) On Page 72794: ``Program Requirements''
Program requirements is amended, as excerpted:
``The program currently uses a five-level rating pattern to both
summarize performance and to appraise performance at the element level.
Its summary level pattern under 5 CFR 430.208(d) uses Levels 1, 2, 3,
4, and 5, which NNSA has labeled Does Not Meet Expectations, Needs
Improvement, Fully Meets Expectations, Exceeds Expectations, and
Significantly Exceeds Expectations, respectively.''
(2) On Page 72795: ``Performance Shares''
Performance Shares is amended, as excerpted:
``The number of shares for each rating level will be as follows: 4
shares are assigned to a Significantly Exceeds Expectations summary
rating when an employee receives SEE ratings in all critical elements;
3 shares are assigned when an employee receives a summary rating of EE,
when a majority of SPOs are rated SEE or EE and the remaining are rated
FME; 2 shares are assigned to an FME summary rating when an equal
amount of SEE or EE and FME SPOs, or a majority are rated FME and the
remaining are rated SEE or EE; 1 share is assigned to an FME rating
when all SPOs are rated FME and no critical element is rated below
FME.''
[FR Doc. 2023-06766 Filed 4-3-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-39-P
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