[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 155 (Tuesday, August 12, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47948-47949]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20447]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT


Personnel Demonstration Project; Alternative Personnel Management 
System for the U.S. Department of Commerce

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Notice of modification to the Department of Commerce Personnel 
Management Demonstration Project.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Title VI of the Civil Service Reform Act, now codified in 5 
U.S.C. chapter 47, 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 and procedures result in improved Federal human 
resources management. On December 24, 1997, OPM approved a 
demonstration project covering several operating units of the U.S. 
Department of Commerce (DoC). In accordance with 5 CFR 470.315, this 
notice modifies the existing provisions for the assignment of augmented 
service credit for reduction-in-force purposes under the performance 
appraisal system.

DATES: This notice modifying the DoC Demonstration Project is effective 
August 12, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Department of Commerce: Edward 
Liverani, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th and Constitution Avenue 
NW., Room 5004, Washington, DC 20230, (202) 482-0272; Office of 
Personnel Management: Delmar D. White, U.S. Office of Personnel 
Management, 1900 E Street NW., Room 6H31, Washington, DC 20415, (202) 
606-1578.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background

    OPM approved the Department of Commerce Demonstration Project and 
published the final plan in the Federal Register on Wednesday, December 
24, 1997, Volume 62, Number 247, part II. The project was implemented 
on March 29, 1998, and modified in the Federal Register on Thursday, 
September 30, 1999, Volume 64, Number 189 [Notices] [Page 52810-52812]. 
On February 14, 2003, OPM authorized an extension of the demonstration 
project to March 28, 2008, to provide time to test and evaluate the 
large number of innovations implemented under this project.

    Office of Personnel Management.
Kay Coles James,
Director.

Table of Contents

I. Executive Summary
II. Basis for Project Plan Modification
III. Changes to the Project Plan

I. Executive Summary

    The Department of Commerce Demonstration Project utilizes many 
features similar to those implemented by the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology (NIST) Demonstration Project in 1988. The key 
features of the project involve increased delegation of authority and 
accountability to line managers, simplified classification and broad 
banding, pay for performance, hiring and pay-setting flexibilities, and 
modified reduction-in-force procedures. The DoC project is designed to 
test whether the innovations of the NIST project, which is now a 
permanent system, can be successful in other DoC environments. The 
participating organizations include the Technology Administration, the 
Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Institute for Telecommunication 
Sciences, and three units of the National Oceanic and

[[Page 47949]]

Atmospheric Administration: Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, 
National Marine Fisheries Service, and the National Environmental 
Satellite, Data, and Information Service.

II. Basis for Project Plan Modification

    There are two types of ratings of record that may be assigned to 
employees within the DoC Demonstration Project: eligible and 
unsatisfactory. Eligible is a rating indicating an acceptable level of 
performance. Unsatisfactory is a rating indicating an unacceptable 
level of performance.
    Currently the demonstration project provides additional service 
retention credit only to those employees with a rating of record of 
eligible and whose overall performance score ranks within the top 30 
percent of all scores within their pay pool. These employees are 
credited with 10 years of additional service retention credit in the 
event of a reduction-in-force. The total additional service retention 
credit that may be awarded to an employee is based on each of the 
employee's three most recent annual performance scores received during 
the 4-year period immediately prior to an established cutoff date. The 
potential additional service retention credit, therefore, totals 30 
years. No additional service retention credit is awarded to employees 
who have not received a score in the top 30 percent of their pay pool. 
In accordance with the demonstration project, DoC also does not provide 
any performance-related retention credit to employees who are hired or 
transfer into the demonstration project from any other performance 
appraisal system.
    Project evaluations and comments received from employees and 
employee groups (e.g., unions) indicate that the current policy of 
limiting additional service retention credit to employees within the 
top 30 percent of all scores in their pay pool is unfairly weighted 
against other employees who have achieved an acceptable level of 
performance but who did not score within the top 30 percent.
    To address this issue, the DoC Departmental Personnel Management 
Board (DPMB) has approved a modification to the project plan to provide 
additional service retention credit to all employees rated eligible 
within the demonstration project, even if their scores do not fall 
within the top 30 percent of their pay pool. All employees rated 
eligible, other than the top 30 percent, will be awarded an additional 
5 years of service retention credit for each eligible rating of record 
in the event of a reduction-in-force. The total additional service 
retention credit that may be awarded to an employee is based on each of 
the employee's three most recent annual performance scores received 
during the 4-year period immediately prior to an established cutoff 
date.
    The Department of Commerce plans to expand the demonstration 
project to include other organizations within the Department. Various 
officials expressed concern that the current policy places new 
employees at a disadvantage because no prior performance-related 
retention credit is permitted. In response to these concerns, the DPMB 
approved a new policy of awarding performance-related retention credit 
for Federal employees who are hired or transfer into the demonstration 
project.

III. Changes to the Project Plan

    The following discussion refers readers to the substantive changes 
to the project plan. The referenced page number refers to the page in 
the final plan, published in the Federal Register on December 24, 1997, 
and the notice of modification to that plan published in the Federal 
Register on September 30, 1999.
    Page 67451. Replace Paragraph C.3 ``Link between Performance and 
Retention'' in its entirety as follows: An employee rated eligible with 
an overall performance score within the top 30 percent of scores within 
a pay pool (See Performance Evaluation and Rewards) will be credited 
with 10 additional years of service for retention credit. An employee 
rated eligible with an overall performance score that does not fall 
within the top 30 percent of scores within a pay pool will be credited 
with 5 additional years of service for retention credit. The total 
credit will be based on the employee's three most recent annual 
performance scores received during the 4-year period prior to an 
established cutoff date.
    Employees who convert to this system from any other performance 
appraisal system within the Federal Government will receive 5 
additional years of service for retention credit for each performance 
rating of record equivalent to an eligible rating in the demonstration 
project. Just as with other employees in the project, the total credit 
will be based on the employee's three most recent annual performance 
scores received during the 4-year period prior to an established cutoff 
date. Career status and veteran preference will continue to have the 
same effect on retention standing as they now have under current 
regulations.
[FR Doc. 03-20447 Filed 8-11-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6325-38-P