National Security Personnel System (NSPS) Transition Office Director, John James and Deputy Associate Director for Employee Services, Office of Personnel Management, Charles Grimes testified before a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs subcommittee on the status of the NSPS transition.  James provided an update on the transition and addressed reclassification of positions and safeguards for employee’s pay.  He also discussed how DoD was progressing on formulating and implementing a new performance management system.  He reported that 226,000 employees are being transferred from the NSPS to statutory non-pay systems.  James emphasized that the reclassification process of the transition is a massive task, but that he is ensuring that “due process mechanisms are in place to correct omissions and errors that supervisors or employees raise.”  Grimes testified on the pay retention issue and post-transition position classification.  He acknowledged that employees placed in a pay retention status will receive only 50 percent of future pay raises until their pay comes in line with their new GS pay classification.  But, he said “employees in this situation are receiving higher pay—and will continue to do so—than they would have received if they remained in the General Schedule pay system all along.”  And, he added that these employees’ future retirement benefit will be the same or higher than it would have if there had not been an NSPS.