Terminations, unresolved issues at DPM

WINDOW ROCK – The Department of Personnel Management needs to get a reality check, said Delegate Vince R. James, regarding the high numbers of pending paperwork and concerns that have not been addressed by the department during a Monday Health, Education and Human Services Committee meeting.

James, the HEHSC chair, suggested DPM be sanctioned, and the committee pull a percentage from the DPM staff’s payroll because of its repeated unresolved resolutions to ensure Navajo employees are secured with their jobs.

DPM Director Charlotte Bigthumb reported 292 terminations; 415 pending personnel action forms; 112 pending position classification questionnaires; 1,372 employee performance appraisal forms, and 77 reclassification positions readvertised – all of which the committee questioned why DPM had not resolved these ongoing concerns to minimize it.

James directed that 415 PAFs along with the reported numbers seem not to bother Bigthumb and commented that maybe she does not take her job seriously.

However, Bigthumb responded and said the 415 PAFs are what her team received and will be reviewed and processed. She added that is how much DPM usually receives, sometimes more.

Slow process hurts the Nation

The Personnel Action Form hurts the livelihood of Navajo employees who live paycheck to paycheck, Vince R. James said, adding that Navajo employees do not receive their very first paycheck until two months later, even longer.

For a couple of years, James said the committee has heard DPM give the same report with no given solutions on how the department is addressing the issues at hand.

The committee agrees that the retention rate is high and hard on the Navajo Nation, but DPM continues to be part of the problem creating it, James said.

Reycita Toddy, the Division of Human Resources executive director, said DPM has been reviewing what else the department could do to streamline the hiring. “I understand that there are a lot of issues and areas that need to be addressed,” Toddy said, claiming that DPM receives incomplete or errors on submitted PAFs needing correction by the supervisor submitting the form.

However, Toddy said she will ensure DPM is making improvements to avoid errors but has not addressed how they would propose samples of the background checks that are being completed. “Right now, what we’re seeing is that the majority of the positions can be filled using a provisional hire,” she added. This allows 60 days for the new employee to complete a background check.

The job positions that require a full background check are those working with children, for which a background check is mandatory.

Step increase

At the same time, most tribal employees have not received a step increase or bonuses regardless of how many years one has been employed.

According to Reycita Toddy, a reason one lacks a promotion, step increase, or bonus is due to an incomplete Employee Performance Appraisal Form, known as EPAF. If the employee’s supervisor does not turn in the form with the required attached documents, it could delay the process.

According to the given numbers that are received 1,372 are still in the process of being reviewed or processed, it is unknown how long one’s paperwork would be processed.

But the Health, Education and Human Services Committee still questions the Department of Personnel Management’s intent.

DPM reported it received 65 requested bonuses, of which James said 41 were paid and 24 were disapproved and questioned why, based on DPM’s report provided to HEHSC.

“Now you see why the retention is hard,” James said. “We have so much money sitting in the account, but we can’t even give them a 500-dollar bonus pay.”

James commented that DPM staff should be ashamed for doing this to its own tribal employees and suggested DPM should be sanctioned because no progress has been made thus far.

“Do we have to get to that point?” James asked. “I think so in order for change to happen.”

He argued and questioned how DPM doesn’t promote and provide bonuses to its staff while other tribal employees have not been promoted or received any bonuses.How you guys handle things internally at DPM should be across the board for all the departments, James said.

Read the full story in the July 25, edition of the Navajo Times.

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