WASHINGTON – The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Friday a public meeting to discuss the Public Health Human Resources System (PHHRS) demonstration project to test a pay-for-performance system.

The FSIS said in a statement that the project is approved by approved by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and will change the way employees are compensated, recognized and rewarded.

The PHHRS will implement pay-banding for approximately 2,800 FSIS employees where jobs will be placed in broad career paths utilizing flexible pay setting based on qualifications, local labor market factors and performance ratings, the agency said. This demonstration project will involve all General Schedule, non-bargaining unit employees within FSIS, including public health veterinarians. The demonstration project will be conducted over a five year period under the supervision of OPM to determine if the pay-for-performance system is successful in improving the Agency's personnel management.

The public meeting will be held on Thursday, June 26, at 10 a.m., in the Jefferson Auditorium, South Agriculture Building, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. Individual may also dial-in to the public meeting at (888) 790-4330, password: Demonstration Project. Meeting information and other related documents are available on the FSIS Web site at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Meetings_&_Events/index.asp. Only those who will be making oral comments need to pre-register before the meeting, the FSIS said.

Written comments may be sent to demoprojects@opm.gov or by mail to Demonstration Projects, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 1900 E Street, NW, Room 7677, Washington, DC 20415.