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Having considered the staff sides' response to this year's civil service pay adjustment and other relevant factors, the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Joseph W P Wong, today (May 28) announced that the Chief Executive in Council has decided that civil service pay should be reduced by 4.42 per cent for the directorate and the upper salary band, 1.64 per cent for the middle salary band and 1.58 per cent for the lower salary band with effect from October 1, 2002, as originally offered to the staff sides of the central consultative councils. The Chief Executive in Council has also decided to introduce the Public Officers Pay Adjustment Bill into the Legislative Council to implement the pay reduction.
The decision on the size of this year's pay adjustment has been made after careful consideration of all relevant factors under the existing civil service pay adjustment mechanism. "The magnitude of pay reduction, which follows strictly the net pay trend indicators, is reasonable and fairly mild," Mr Wong said. "The decision has struck a balance between the views of civil servants and the interests of the community at large," he added.
The Administration will implement this year's pay adjustment by legislation. For this purpose, the Public Officers Pay Adjustment Bill will be published in the Gazette on May 31, 2002 and introduced into the Legislative Council on June 5, 2002. It is the Administration's intention to obtain the Legislative Council's approval of the Bill within the current legislative session.
"The Government is committed, and the civil service central consultative councils have urged the Government, to adhere to the established mechanism in deciding this year's civil service pay adjustment. It is incumbent upon the Government to ensure that a justified decision to reduce civil service pay made under the established mechanism can be implemented with certainty. Our legal advice is that legislation is the only viable means to achieve such certainty," Mr Wong said.
The standard Memorandum on Conditions of Service (MOCS) applicable to civil servants provides that the Government reserves the right to alter any of the officer's terms of appointment, and/or conditions of service set out in the MOCS or letter of appointment, should the Government at any time consider this to be necessary. However, this variation clause in most MOCS now in force does not expressly reserve the right to reduce the salaries of civil servants. There is therefore a risk that a decision to reduce civil service pay without legislation would be subject to a successful legal challenge. The proposed legislation will cater specifically for this year's pay adjustment.
"This legislative approach is fully consistent with the Basic Law," Mr Wong said.
With the exception of civil servants remunerated on starting salaries which are delinked from the annual civil service pay adjustment and judges and judicial officers, the pay reduction will apply to civil servants in all grades and ranks (including those on pre-retirement leave and those seconded to publicly-funded and subvented organizations). The pay reduction will also apply to ICAC officers and other public officers whose pay is determined or adjusted in accordance with the civil service pay scales.
"The community is as a whole going through a difficult phase. We are pleased to note that many civil servants are willing to share the burden with the rest of the community in this time of difficulty. We shall step up our efforts in explaining to our colleagues and the public the need for legislation to implement a pay reduction decision which is generally accepted as reasonable," Mr Wong said.
Mr. Wong today wrote a letter to all civil servants on the latest development in the 2002 civil service pay adjustment exercise. His letter will be uploaded onto the Civil Service Bureau homepage at http://www.csb.gov.hk later today.
End/Tuesday, May 28, 2002
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