The Federal Bureau of Investigation is a national government body responsible for intelligence and security services in the United States. It is the primary investigative arm of the country’s Department of Justice and a member of the United States’ intelligence community. The body is authorized and tasked to investigate particular crimes allocated to it and nourish other law enforcement bureaus with collaborative services such as training, laboratory investigations, and fingerprint identification. According to Dawkins (2017), the American Economic Association founder, ‘labor is a dissipation of human force involving the well-being of a given personality. Work is an inseparable commodity attached to the worker; consequently, it diverges from other goods and services. A person providing other products and services for purchase retains his or her personality.’ Dawkin’s argument advocates for the elevation of the laborer as well as broadly supports the significance and ethical standards of handling workers with dignity ( Dawkins, 2017). To achieve this objective, the Federal Bureau of Investigation should have a union representation of its workers. Most FBI workers desire to discourse their employer as a whole instead of independently and can be able to achieve those impulses through the freedom of association. Employment proposes that an individual contributes to various activities for remuneration he or she would otherwise avoid. Nevertheless, a career is short of enslavement and hence bound to deference. Notably, unwarranted deference presents as engagements that do not benefit the worker relative to the disruption of life experienced. Unwarranted deference can also portend nontrivial effects on a laborer’s wage and working conditions, or entail subjection to interests and preferences unrelated to work. For instance, exhaustion is guaranteed in the workplace and can be reimbursed by a reasonable compensation plan and work formation, but should not compromise a worker’s health (Dawkins, 2017). Consequently, through union representation, FBI laborers can collectively make decisions and define how the employer warrants suitable deference in conjunction with the employees’ well-being. On a different note, union representation inoculates discipline, self-respect, and dignity among laborers. Under a unified body, workers get the opportunity to participate in management, thus challenging any workplace implementations that would harm them. For instance, union representation enables members to accompany formal grievances, dismissals, or disciplinary hearings. The intelligence enterprise in the United States has relied on the private sector for support after the activation of the country’s National Security Act of 1947. From its formative years to the present, scrutiny of the country’s intelligence enterprise suggests that it has gradually grown from an alliance-based collaboration to a significantly privatized bureau (Singh, 2019). Currently, the United States intelligence is privatized more than ever before, with for-profit companies operating as equal partners with the country’s surveillance at almost all levels. Much literature exists on the outsourcing of intelligence services to the private sector after the September 11 attacks, as well as the inherent repercussions of government intelligence agencies endorsing such collaborations. The government’s ever-growing reliance raises concerns about the blurrier lines of responsibilities between government employees and contractors (Singh, 2019). It brings into question the extent to which commercial interests may affect an intelligence agency’s decisions since contractors have contributed to leaks that have seen the country suffer irreversible damage. Nevertheless, as the debate on how intelligence agencies such as the FBI can proficiently manage and limit the questionable contentious activities of their private partners, it is evident that the collaboration between the FBI and the private sector is indispensable as part of the former’s survival (Singh, 2019). For a good reason, outsourcing the bureau’s responsibilities to the private sector gives a more agile approach to the intelligence process, as the latter is less red-tape driven. Compared to the government, the private sector is years ahead in technological skillsets far more diverse in its operations. Furthermore, the private sector can seamlessly tap into cultural competency as the government’s bureau grapples with leveraging the cultural competency of its workforce. Resultantly, to prevent past damages suffered as a result of the privatization of intelligence, such as the September 11 terror attack, the FBI should continue to collaborate with the private sector but streamline its much-needed oversight processes. The FBI’s employee pension benefits are governed by the United States FERS (Federal Employees Retirement System), which is the pension plan for all U.S. workers in the executive, judicial, and legislative arms of the federal government (FBI, 2020). The FER offers pension welfare form three separate sources, which include basic benefit pension, social security pension, and thrift savings plans. Social security pension and thrift savings pension can be enjoyed if one quits service before retirement. In the basic benefit pension plan, an FBI employee collects a predetermined amount, despite the sum he or she has channeled to the scheme. The sum is based on the duration of service and the highest three successive years of service commonly referred to as the ‘high-3’ average. The ‘high-3’ average is often the three last years an employee served the FBI but can be anchored on a higher position held by an employee before joining the bureau (FBI, 2020). The calculations take into account one’s basic salary and do not factor in overtime, bonuses, or any other extra remunerations. Retiree duration of good service is detailed in an SF-50 form received yearly; then, the FBI totals a 1 percent multiplier for the retiree’s ‘high-3’. Retirees who are 62 years or older and have served the FBI for at least 20 years are subject to a multiplier of 1.1 percent. The following formula is used to calculate the basic benefit plan: Annual Pension Benefit = High-3 Salary x Number of Years in Service x 1% or 1.1% Pension Multiplier. Congress instigated the thrift savings plan (TSP) in 1986, offering the same type of tax privileges and savings like 401(K). During each pay period, the FBI deposits 1% of a worker’s basic salary into his or her TSP plan Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FBI, 2020). In addition to that, the employee can make additional contributions of up to 5% of the payment received. The extra subscriptions are not subject to taxation and are managed by FRTIB (Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board). Primarily, the Federal Bureau of Investigation should identify impediments to the monitoring of activities carried out by its employees in collaborating with the private sector (Patanakul et al., 2016). Currently, the FBI has limited oversight of subcontracting procedures. Secondly, the FBI should significantly engage its available workforce in carrying out key intelligence works and train them to compensate for the gross shortage of required skill sets (Singh, 2019). This will enable the bureau to fulfill its mission with minimal external influences in meeting the nation’s security demands. The FBI must understand how its overreliance on the private sector weakens its credibility and compromises national security. Thirdly, to alleviate productivity, the FBI is encouraged to continually revise its employee policies and eliminate unwarranted deference that could render its workforce ineffective.
References
Dawkins, C. E. (2017). A Normative Argument for Independent Voice and Labor Unions. Journal of Business Ethics, 155 (4), 1153–1165. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3539-x
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FBI. (2020). Federal Bureau of Investigation. FBIJOBS. https://www.fbijobs.gov/working-at-fbi/benefits.
Patanakul, P., Kwak, Y. H., Zwikael, O., & Liu, M. (2016). What impacts the performance of large-scale government projects? International Journal of Project Management, 34 (3), 452–466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2015.12.001
Singh, S. J. (2019, September). The U.S. Intelligence Enterprise and the Role of Privatizing Intelligence. Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/us-intelligence-enterprise-and-role-privatizing-intelligence.
