[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 99 (Monday, May 22, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32135-32136]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-12688]


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OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT


Science and Technology (S&T) Laboratory Personnel Management 
Demonstration Project, Department of the Army, U.S. Army Engineer 
Research & Development Center (ERDC)

AGENCY: U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

ACTION: Notice of change to reduction-in-force (RIF) procedures to 
recognize performance based on the average of the last three annual 
performance scores in the most recent 4-year period as a criterion to 
establish retention registers.

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SUMMARY: 5 U.S.C. 4703 authorizes 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.
    Public Law 103-337, October 5, 1994, permits the Department of 
Defense (DoD), with the approval of OPM, to carry out personnel 
demonstration projects at S&T Reinvention Laboratories. This notice 
identifies a revision to the ERDC plan where an average of three annual 
performance scores is used instead of a single performance score to 
determine an employee's retention standing in a reduction in force.

DATES: This revision to the ERDC demonstration project will be 
implemented May 22, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
    ERDC: Dr. C.H. Pennington, U.S. Army Engineer Research & 
Development Center, ATTN: CEERD-ZT-E, 3909 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, 
Mississippi 39180-6199, phone 601-634-3549.
    OPM: Ms. Joan M. Jorgenson, U. S. Office of Personnel Management, 
1900 E Street NW Room 7458, Washington, DC 20415, phone 202-606-1315.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background

    OPM approved and published the final plan in the Federal Register 
for the following S&T Reinvention Laboratory Demonstration Project.
    A. U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station (WES) final 
publication on Tuesday, March 3, 1998, Volume 63, Number 41, Part IV.
    WES correction and re-publication on Wednesday, March 25, 1998, 
Volume 63, Number 57, Part V.
    B. Publication of amendment to expand coverage of the WES project 
to include the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, Cold 
Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory, and Topographic Engineering 
Center. Published in the Federal Register on Friday, October 16, 1998, 
Volume 63, Number 200, Part V.

    Note: The WES demonstration project was renamed the ERDC 
demonstration project following consolidation of the Army Corps of 
Engineers' laboratories.

    C. Publication of an amendment to include competitive examining and 
Distinguished Scholastic Achievement Appointment authorities as part of 
the ERDC plan. Published in the Federal Register on Thursday, March 11, 
1999, Volume 64, Number 47, Part II.
    This demonstration project involves simplified job classification, 
pay banding, a performance-based compensation system, employee 
development provisions, and modified RIF procedures.

[[Page 32136]]

2. Overview

    The action to combine all Corps of Engineers laboratories into the 
ERDC and expand coverage of the WES Personnel Management Demonstration 
Project to the entire ERDC prompted a review of the provisions of the 
project to assure acceptance by all levels of management, employees, 
and bargaining units. The review revealed that the best interests of 
all involved would be better served by revising the manner in which 
performance is recognized in RIF procedures to allow for performance 
based on a longer period than that represented by a single performance 
score.

    Dated: May 9, 2000.

Office of Personnel Management.
Janice R. Lachance,
 Director.

I. Executive Summary

    The Department of the Army established the personnel management 
demonstration projects to be generally similar to the system in use at 
the Navy personnel demonstration project known as China Lake. The 
projects and this amendment are built upon the concepts of linking 
performance to pay for all covered positions; simplifying 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

    The demonstration project at the ERDC attempts to provide managers 
with the authority, control and flexibility to achieve quality 
laboratories and quality products. These goals are met by employing the 
best candidates and ensuring the best employees are retained in the 
event of a reduction in force. The purpose of this amendment is to 
revise the procedures to recognize employee performance in establishing 
retention registers by basing the criterion on the average of the last 
three annual performance scores in the most recent 4-year period 
instead of the last single performance score. This considers employee 
performance over a longer period of time. Other basic provisions of the 
approved plan are unchanged.

III. Personnel System Changes

    This project is built upon the concepts of linking performance to 
pay, simplifying paperwork in the processing of classification and 
other personnel actions, emphasizing partnerships among management, 
employees and unions, and delegating certain authorities to line 
managers. Pay for performance is accomplished by assigning a numerical 
score to an employee's performance at the end of the annual rating 
cycle and using the score to determine the employee's pay increase. 
Currently, the score is also used to determine in part an employee's 
retention standing in the event of a reduction in force. For RIF 
purposes, this amendment proposes instead to recognize employee 
performance by averaging the last three performance scores rather than 
using only the last performance score.
    The Federal Register, Volume 63, Number 57, dated March 25, 1998, 
Section III.H.2. (Retention), page 14593, first paragraph, first 
sentence, is amended to read as follows:

    Retention registers will be established based on the following 
criteria listed in order of priority: Tenure status (Tenure I--
career, Tenure II--career conditional, Tenure III--modified term); 
veterans' preference; the average of the last three annual employee 
performance scores in the most recent 4-year period; and service 
computation date.

    The use of three performance scores recognizes that an employee's 
performance may vary from one year to the next because of unforeseen 
circumstances such as an illness, relocation, a change in workload, or 
reorganization. The amendment incorporates the recommendations of 
management, employees and unions, ensures the very best employees are 
retained in the event of a RIF, and continues to support the objectives 
of the ERDC personnel management demonstration project.

[FR Doc. 00-12688 Filed 5-19-00; 8:45 am]
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