WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- The Civil Service system began in the 1880s to foster a professional federal work force, and the National Security Personnel System continues that spirit, said Navy Secretary Gordon R. England here April 14.

Secretary England is the Defense Department’s senior executive for the system, which will preserve worker protections while increasing the responsiveness and flexibility of the DOD work force, he said.

The new system will begin for many workers in July, with full implementation throughout the department scheduled for 2007.

The key changes in the system are a simplified pay-banding structure, a new performance-management system that will allow more accountability, performance-based pay and a streamlined hiring system, officials said. The system also will change the disciplinary system and begin a new way of working with unions.

No employee will lose pay in the conversion to the new system, Secretary England said. Pay for performance will be the baseline for the new system.

“(It) offers a stronger correlation between performance and pay, plus greater consideration of local market conditions in setting pay raises,” he said.

The pay system will eliminate step increases, which are tied to longevity. Instead, employees will be rewarded for their performance, officials said.

Secretary England said department officials have worked closely with the Office of Personnel Management and the Congress in forming the system. They also have consulted with DOD employee unions officials. In February, department officials published the regulations that govern NSPS in the Federal Register. Public comment ended in March, and now officials again are consulting with unions on the system.

The system still protects workers, Secretary England said. The system does not, for example, remove whistleblower protections or tinker with the equal opportunity complaint process. It leaves protections against nepotism and favoritism in place. It does not eliminate veterans’ preference.

It certainly does not end collective bargaining, Secretary England said, but it does propose changes.

The system will not result in a loss of jobs or opportunities for Civil Service employees.

“The NSPS will create incentives for managers to turn to civilians first, not last, when many vital tasks must be done,” Secretary England said. “This will ease the burden on our valuable men and women in uniform to do only those tasks that are uniquely military.”

Secretary England said he knows change is hard, but the new system is needed as the U.S. faces 21st century threats.