Starting Salaries Review report released
****************************************
The Government released today (Tuesday) the Starting
Salaries Review report of the Standing Commission on Civil
Service Salaries and Conditions of Service.
The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr W K Lam,
said: "The Starting Salaries Review is an integral part of
the Civil Service Reform programme."
The revised starting salaries for recruits are based
on the private sector survey commissioned by the Standing
Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of
Service early this year(the Standing Commission's
recommendations on the new benchmarks for the 13
Qualification Groups are attached).
In summary, except for Qualification Group 8
(Technical, Supervisory and Related Grades Group I) whose
benchmark will remain the same, the benchmark for all the
other Qualification Groups will be lowered from one to at
most six pay points (from 6 per cent to 31 per cent). The
maximum pay point of all the basic ranks will remain at
the current level.
"Our pay policy is to offer sufficient remuneration
to attract, retain, and motivate staff of a suitable
calibre to provide the public with an effective and
efficient service. Such remuneration should be regarded
as fair both by civil servants and by the public which
they serve and should be broadly comparable with private
sector practices," Mr Lam said.
"As the private sector survey shows that the pay
offered for new recruits by private sector employers are
generally lower than those offered in the civil service,
we believe that suitable downward adjustment to the civil
service entry pay would not have an impact on private
sector pay and we will continue to be able to attract good
calibre staff to join the public service," he said.
"To ensure civil service entry pay is in line with
private sector pay, a full review would be conducted every
three to four years with annual updating carried out in
the interim by the Standing Commission. The first
updating exercise is scheduled for the latter half of year
2000," he added.
"Having regard to the new starting salaries, we have
come up with a new pay package for recruits," he said.
The proposed new pay package for recruits is modeled
after the current incremental pay scale system. They will
enter at the new minimum point on the respective pay
scale. Like the current system, they will be subject to
the annual civil service pay adjustment and a one-point
incremental jump annually, subject to satisfactory
performance in respect of both conduct and diligence, as
stipulated in the Civil Service Regulations.
"There are concerns over how serving staff will be
affected by the Starting Salaries Review. We would like
to emphasize that other than serving staff on transfer to
entry ranks in other grades, the Starting Salaries Review
will not have any effect on serving staff," Mr Lam said.
"Involvement of staff and department and grade
management in developing these proposals is important.
Whilst the Executive Council has accepted in principle the
recommendations from the Standing Commission, we would
like to listen to the Staff Sides' and grade management's
views before we firm up the new benchmarks and decide on
new starting salaries."
"We look forward to discussions with the Staff Sides
to make the civil service reforms a success. We shall
refine our proposals for implementation after taking into
account the views of department and grade management and
the staff," he said.
Starting Salaries Review
Proposed Benchmarks
QG Qualification Existing Proposed Reduction
Groups Benchmark Benchmark
1 Grades not MPS 1 MPS 0 -1 point
requiring a ($8,625) ($8,125) (-5.8%)
full School
Certificate
2 School MPS 3 MPS 2 -1 point
Certificate ($9,785) ($9,180) (-6.2%)
Grades
Group I
Higher Diploma,
Diploma and
Related Grades
4 Group I MPS 13 MPS 11 -2 points
($18,140) ($16,095) (-11.3%)
5 Group II MPS 10 MPS 6 -4 points
($15,160) ($11,820) (-22.0%)
6 Group III MPS 7 MPS 3 -4 points
($12,595) ($9,785) (-22.3%)
7 Technical MPS 13 MPS 11 -2 points
Inspectorate ($18,140) ($16,095) (-11.3%)
and Related
Grades
Technician,
Supervisory and
Related Grades
8 Group I MPS 6 MPS 6 -
($11,820) ($11,820) -
9 Group II MPS 6 MPS 5 -1 point
($11,820) ($11,115) (-6.0%)
10 Matriculation MPS 10 MPS 4 -6 points
Grades ($15,160) ($10,420) (-31.3%)
Professional
and Related
Grades
11 Group I MPS 27 MPS 22 -5 points
($35,285) ($28,075) (-20.4%)
12 Group II MPS 27 MPS 22 -5 points
($35,285) ($28,075) (-20.4%)
13 Degree and MPS 16 MPS 11 -5 points
Related Grades ($21,010) ($16,095) (-23.4%)
14 Model Scale MOD1 MOD0 -1 point
1 Grades ($9,785) ($8,615) (-12.0%)
End/Tuesday, July 20, 1999
NNNN