a. Project Legislation: The Project legislative provisions for management and oversight are Sections 10(a)(1) and (2) of Public Law 99-574:
(1) Section 10(a)(l)A: The Office of Personnel Management and the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall jointly design a Demonstration Project which shall be conducted by the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
(2) Section 10(a)(2): The demonstration project shall, except as otherwise provided in this section, be conducted in accordance with section 4703 of title 5, United States Code, and shall be counted as a single project for purposes of subsection (d)(2) of such section.,
b. 5 U.S. C. 4703:
(1) Section 4703, under which the Project is to be conducted, is the authority granted to OPM in the Civil Service Reform Act to approved and evaluate demonstration projects.
(2) This authority allows OPM to approve personnel management procedures, for demonstration purposes, that would otherwise be prohibited by law or regulation.
a. Delegation from NIST Director: The NIST Director has delegated management and oversight of the Project by charter to the NIST Personnel Management Board (PMB).
b. NIST Personnel Management Board (PMB) Charter:
(1.) Establishment: The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (then the National Bureau of Standards) established the Personnel Management Board (PMB) October 21, 1987, pursuant to Section 10 of the National Bureau of Standards Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1987 (PL 99-574), which provided that the Director shall conduct the Personnel Management Demonstration Project established by that section.
(2.) Purpose: The purpose of the PMB is to manage and oversee the NIST Personnel Management Demonstration Project and NIST personnel systems in general.
(3.) Jurisdiction: The PMB has jurisdiction over all NIST personnel systems, to the extent of NIST authority for those systems, and over personnel actions dealing with any NIST position, with the exception of personnel actions specifically delegated to the NIST Executive Resources Board (ERB).
(4.) Functions:
- The PMB shall manage, evaluate, and make policy and procedural changes to project systems and other personnel systems.
- The PMB shall direct and oversee any system changes that require DOC approval, OPM approval, or publication in the Federal Register.
- The PMB shall interpret and clarify personnel policy.
- The PMB shall establish, revise, and oversee all management and administrative structures for conducting and evaluating the project and for managing personnel systems in general.
- The PMB shall determine and oversee the delegations of authorities to managers, supervisors, and management bodies, including the withdrawal of authority when warranted.
- The PMB shall make exceptions to normal project procedures on a case-by-case basis when it believes an exception is warranted.
- The PMB may establish itself as the approving body for any category of personnel actions under its jurisdiction.
- The PMB shall exercise these authorities over all personnel functions under its jurisdiction, including:
- total compensation comparability
- position classification
- position management
- staffing and probation
- recruitment and retention allowances
- affirmative action/equal employment opportunity
- promotion
- reduction in force
- pay administration and pay for performance
- supervisory and managerial pay differentials
- Performance Management
- awards
- employee development and sabbaticals
- employee relations and adverse actions
- personnel security
- project evaluation
- project budgeting
- project implementation
- automation of personnel systems
(5.) Membership:
- The NIST Director shall appoint the Chair and voting members from among the top managers of the Institute.
- The voting alternates shall be the deputies of the voting members or others appointed in writing by the voting members, with the approval of the PMB Chair.
- Substitutes must be approved in advance by the Chair.
- The Executive Secretary shall be the Director of the Human Resources Management Division.
(6.) Administrative Rules:
- A quorum shall consist of six voting members.
- The Chair shall announce decisions after taking votes or after determining that there is general consent. The Chair may make emergency decisions to be submitted later for Board ratification.
- The Human Resources Management Division shall provide administrative support for the Board.
- The minutes shall be taken in the briefest practical form that will clearly record Board decisions, action items, individuals responsible for action items, and due dates.
1. Experimental Nature of Project: Many aspects of an alternative personnel management system are experimental. Modifications must be made from time to time as experience is gained, results are analyzed, and conclusions are reached on how the system is working.
2. Modifying the Project: NIST, with DoC and OPM approval, will make minor modifications, such as changes in the Classification Standards, without approval from DoC, OPM or OMB. Major changes, such as a change in the number of career paths, will be published in the Federal Register.
1. End of Project: In the event the Project ends, a conversion back to the former (regular) Federal civil service system will be required for positions equivalent to GS 15 and below (SES and 3104 position classification will not change under the Project).
2. Conversion Procedure: The conversion will be conducted according to the following steps:
a. All employees will be converted at their current base pay at the time of conversion, except where a General Schedule employee's base pay falls between two steps of a grade, conversion will be to the higher step.
b. All employees in a pay band corresponding to a single General Schedule (GS) grade will be converted to that grade.
c. Employees in a pay band corresponding to two or more GS grades will be converted to one of those grades according to the following procedures:
- A mid-point will be calculated for each GS grade, which will be the dollar figure halfway between the minimum rate and maximum rate of the grade in the current GS pay schedule at the time of conversion.
- An employee's basic pay at the time of conversion will be compared to the GS grade mid-points to establish the grade mid-point that is closest, whether higher or lower, to the employee's basic pay.
- The employee will be converted to the GS grade whose mid-point is closest to the employee's basic pay, except that an employee converting to a two-grade-interval occupational series will be converted to an appropriate grade for that series whose mid-point is closest to the employee's basic pay. If the employee's basic pay is equally distant from the mid-points of two appropriate grades, the employee will be converted to the higher grade.
d. Employees will be placed in GS categories according to coverage criteria that exist at the time of conversion.
e. Once these conversions have taken place, evaluations will be conducted to ensure proper classification.