[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 200 (Friday, October 16, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55770-55771]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-27819]
[[Page 55769]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part V
Office of Personnel Management
_______________________________________________________________________
Science and Technology Laboratory Personnel Management Demonstration
Project, Department of the Army; Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 200 / Friday, Month October 16, 1998
/ Notices
[[Page 55770]]
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
Science and Technology Laboratory Personnel Management
Demonstration Project, Department of the Army: the Army Engineer
Waterways Experiment Station (WES); the Army Construction Engineering
Research Laboratories (CERL); the Army Topographic Engineering Center
(TEC); and the Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
(CRREL)
AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.
ACTION: Notice to expand coverage of all provisions of the WES
Personnel Management Demonstration Project to include employees at
CERL, TEC, and CRREL.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: 5 U.S.C. 4703 authorizes the Office of Personnel Management
(OPM) to conduct demonstration projects that experiment with new and
different personnel management concepts to determine whether such
changes in personnel policy or procedures would result in improved
Federal personnel management.
Pub. L. 103-337, October 5, 1994, permits the Department of Defense
(DoD), with the approval of OPM, to carry out personnel demonstration
projects at DoD Science and Technology (S&T) Reinvention Laboratories.
This notice identifies the expanded coverage of the WES Personnel
Management Demonstration Project to include employees assigned to CERL,
TEC, and CRREL .
DATES: This notice to expand the WES Demonstration Project may be
implemented at CERL, TEC, and CRREL effective on October 19, 1998.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
WES: Dr. C. H. Pennington, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment
Station, ATTN: CEWES-ZT-E, 3909 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg,
Mississippi 39180-6199, phone 601-634-3549.
CERL: Mr. John M. Deponai, III, U.S. Army Construction Engineering
Research Laboratories, ATTN: CECER-ZC, PO Box 9005, Champaign, IL
61826-9005, phone 217-373-7201.
TEC: Mr. Bobbie F. Kerns, Jr., U.S. Army Topographic Engineering
Center, ATTN: CETEC-SD, 7701 Telegraph Road, Alexandria, VA 22315-3864,
phone 703-428-7703.
CRREL: Ms. Susan F. Koh, U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and
Engineering Laboratory, ATTN: CECRL-HR, 72 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH
03755-1290, phone 603-646-4500.
OPM: Ms. Fidelma A. Donahue, U.S. Office of Personnel Management,
1900 E Street, NW, Room 7460, Washington, DC 20415, phone 202-606-1138.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background
OPM has approved ``Science and Technology Laboratory Personnel
Management Demonstration Projects'' and published the WES final plan in
the Federal Register on Tuesday, March 3, 1998, Volume 63, Number 41,
Part IV, with a corrected version published on Wednesday, March 25,
1998, Volume 63, Number 57, Part V. The WES Demonstration Project
involved simplified job classification, pay banding, performance-based
compensation systems, employee development provisions, and modified
reduction-in-force procedures.
2. Overview
The Headquarters Corps of Engineers recently made a decision to
consolidate the management structure of its four laboratories into one
Research and Development (R&D) organization. Under re-engineering
activities, the Corps will integrate R&D program planning and oversight
activities and consolidate support operations under a single commander
located at WES. The Corps projects that these efforts will ultimately
result in significant reductions in operating costs. The integrated
program management will increase the Corps' efficiency in executing the
R&D program and consequently improve the ability to serve the Army and
the Nation.
Dated: September 29, 1998.
Office of Personnel Management.
Janice R. Lachance,
Director.
I. Executive Summary
The Department of the Army established the WES Personnel Management
Demonstration Project to be generally similar to the system in use at
the Navy Personnel Demonstration Project known as China Lake. The
project was built upon the concepts of linking performance to pay for
all covered positions, simplified paperwork in the processing of
classification and other personnel actions, emphasizing partnerships
among management, employees, and unions, and delegating other
authorities to line managers.
II. Introduction
A. Purpose
The Demonstration Project at the WES attempts to provide managers,
at the lowest practical level, the authority, control, and flexibility
needed to achieve quality laboratories and quality products. The
purpose of this notice is to expand the coverage of the WES Personnel
Management Demonstration Project to CERL, TEC, and CRREL as a result of
laboratory consolidation. The project will allow the Corps'
Laboratories to compete more effectively for high-quality personnel and
strengthen the manager's role in personnel management. All provisions
of the approved WES Personnel Management Demonstration Project will
apply.
Employee notification will be made by delivery of a copy of the
corrected version of the WES plan and this notice. Training for
supervisors and employees will be accomplished by information briefings
and training sessions prior to implementation.
B. Duty Locations
Employees assigned to CERL, TEC, and CRREL work at the locations
shown in Table 1.
Table 1.--Duty Locations
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total number
Location of employees
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hanover, NH............................................. 304
Anchorage, AK........................................... 5
Fairbanks, AK........................................... 11
Arlington, VA........................................... 1
Alexandria, VA.......................................... 346
Ft. Huachuca, AZ........................................ 1
Champaign, IL........................................... 351
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Participating Employees
The project will cover all General Schedule (GS) employees assigned
to CERL, TEC, and CRREL. Federal Wage System (FWS) employees, Civilian
Intelligence Personnel Management System (CIPMS) employees covered by
Title 10, and 5 U.S.C. 3105 Scientific and Technical (ST) employees are
not covered, but will follow the same employee development provisions
of this plan, except, in the case of CIPMS employees, where the
provisions are found to be in conflict with CIPMS. The additional
occupational series of employees included in the project are identified
by occupational family in Table 2. All GS employees at CERL, TEC, and
CRREL with appointments exceeding one year will be covered by the
provisions of this project. GS employees with appointments limited to
one year or less will be covered for pay banding, the performance
appraisal process, and salary adjustments. Senior Executive Service
(SES) employees will not be included in the project. It is intended to
expand coverage of the project to all FWS employees 1 to 2 years
following the date of implementation. In the event of
[[Page 55771]]
expansion to FWS employees beyond the employee development provisions,
full approval will be obtained from DA, DoD, and OPM.
Table 2.--Additional Occupational Series Included in the Demonstration Project
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Engineers and scientists E&S technicians Administrative General support
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0020 Community Planning Series.. 0404 Biological Science 0340 Program Management 0350 Equipment Operator
Technician Series. Series. Series.
0190 General Anthropology Series 1374 Geodetic Technician 0342 Support Services 1087 Editorial
Series. Administration Series. Assistance Series.
0457 Soil Conservation Series... 083 Technical Writing &
Editing Series.
0460 Forestry Series............ 1103 Industrial
Property Management
Series.
0890 Agricultural Engineering 1640 Facility
Series. Management Series.
1321 Metallurgy Series.......... 1701 General Education
and Training Series.
1340 Meteorology Series......... 2003 Supply Program
Management Series.
1370 Cartography Series......... 2010 Inventory
Management Series.
1372 Geodesy
1529 Mathematical Statistician
Series
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) Local 1017
represents approximately 96 non-professional, non-managerial/
supervisory, non-confidential GS and FWS employees at CERL. NFFE Local
1472 represents approximately 150 non-professional, non-managerial/
supervisory, non-confidential GS and FWS employees at CRREL. The
project will be expanded to include the administrative and support
employees at CERL, TEC, and CRREL no earlier than November 1, 1998. All
other employees at CERL, TEC, and CRREL will be included for provisions
of the project on or about October 1, 1999.
III. Demonstration Project Costs
Costs associated with the expansion of the Personnel Demonstration
system include software automation, training, and project evaluation.
The projected annual expenses for each area are summarized in Table 3.
Table 3.--Projected Costs ($K)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 98 FY 99 FY 00 FY 01
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Training........................................ 39 25 .............. ..............
Project Evaluation.............................. 60 110 110 110
Automation...................................... 20 .............. .............. ..............
---------------------------------------------------------------
Grand Total................................. 119 135 110 110
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[FR Doc. 98-27819 Filed 10-15-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-01-P