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Washington, D.C.—The leader of the union representing thousands of front-line border security employees said today the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) decision to substantially revise its timetable for implementing a pay-for-performance system carries with it two important implications for the agency and its employees.

First, said President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), “it is a victory for DHS employees in that at least over the next two years they will be operating under a pay system they both understand and trust.”

Moreover, she said, the DHS decision to delay full implementation and instead institute a pilot program in 2008 “provides another window of opportunity for this agency to work with employees and their representatives on the serious mission and morale issues that are impacting the department, including real-world workplace problems such as inadequate training, staffing and resources.”

“I’m hopeful that moving away from its insistence on a new, untested and ill-defined broad-based pay system will allow DHS to focus on the serious problems impacting employee morale and the ability of this agency to perform its critical missions,” Kelley said.

The NTEU leader called the agency’s decision to scrap the name of its proposed system—MaxHR—and replace it with the new term Human Capital Operation Plan is “recognition that everyone associates MaxHR with failure.”

She added: “I certainly hope this change is far more than cosmetic, because much more is needed, and most particularly a willingness by DHS to work with employees and their unions.”

DHS employees recently registered their clear discouragement with the direction of their agency in their responses to the Office of Personnel Management Federal Human Capital Survey, ranking DHS at or near the bottom in key categories among agencies. This included more than 41 percent of respondents who reported dissatisfaction when asked: “How satisfied are you with the policies and practices of your senior leaders?”

As to a new pay system in DHS, NTEU opposed both the plan and the agency’s proposed timetable for full implementation, criticizing it as premature and not capable of drawing employee support. NTEU also led a successful federal court suit to prevent implementation of regressive labor relations rules by DHS and has successfully lobbied Congress to reduce funding for the ‘MaxHR’ personnel system.

In its fiscal 2007 budget proposal, the administration sought $71.4 million for implementation of this flawed system, including the pay segment of it. Thanks in large part to NTEU’s efforts, the Continuing Resolution that is funding federal agency spending for the balance of fiscal 2007 provides only $20 million for the system.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 employees in 30 agencies and departments, including some 14,000 in DHS’s Bureau of Customs and Border Protection.