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LCQ10: Effective management of sick leave in the civil service
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    Following is a question by the Hon Andrew Cheng and a written reply by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Miss Denise Yue, on effective management of sick leave in the civil service in the Legislative Council today (June 13):

Question:

     Some civil servants have told me that, despite having been awarded compensation for work injuries, the Administration still required them, under Civil Service Regulation (CSR) 1291, to attend specified government clinics or clinics of the Hospital Authority when they wish to take sick leave, and the sick leave certificates issued by other medical practitioners are not accepted. They have also pointed out that at present the Government does not provide any channel for appeal against the imposition of the above restriction, which is unfair to the affected civil servants. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)  of the number of civil servants on whom the above restriction under CSR 1291 was imposed last year;

(b)  whether it has assessed if the above restriction can effectively prevent abuse of sick leave by civil servants, and whether it is reasonable to impose such a restriction on civil servants; and

(c)  whether it will formulate clear guidelines regarding the application and enforcement of the above provision for management staff to follow, and establish an appeal channel for the affected civil servants to seek redress; if not, of the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

     The administration of sick leave for civil servants, including the application procedures and measures against abuse, is governed by the relevant Civil Service Regulations (CSR). Sick leave is generally granted to civil servants on production of medical certificates issued by registered medical practitioners. Where there are indications of abuse of sick leave by a civil servant, CSR 1291 provides that the Head of Department concerned may require the concerned civil servant to attend before a government or Hospital Authority (HA) doctor(s), or a particular government or HA clinic(s), on each occasion he wishes to take sick leave.  

     Applications for sick leave related to injury on duty or occupational disease are not subject to the requirement under CSR 1291. Sick leave related to injury on duty or occupational disease will be granted to concerned civil servants so long as their applications are supported by medical certificates issued in accordance with the requirements laid down in the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap.282).

     Turning to part (a) of the question, there were 299 civil servants subject to the requirement under CSR 1291 in 2006.

     As regards part (b) of the question, we consider that the requirement under CSR 1291 strikes an appropriate balance between making sick leave available to civil servants who are sick on the one hand, and safeguarding against abuse of sick leave on the other hand. It is important to note that the CSR 1291 requirement is invoked not to deny sick leave to a civil servant. A civil servant subject to the CSR 1291 requirement continues to be entitled to sick leave provided he attends the designated government or HA clinic(s) and is issued with valid sick leave certificates. Where a civil servant has genuine difficulties in attending a designated clinic(s), he may approach the departmental management concerned, which would decide whether to expand the list of designated clinics or to approve some form of exceptional arrangement. Under the established mechanism, the departmental management concerned will review all civil servants subject to the CSR 1291 requirement on a quarterly basis. The departmental management concerned will lift the CSR 1291 requirement on a said civil servant when it is satisfied that there is no further concern of abuse by the civil servant.  

     As for part(c) of the question, to facilitate the effective management of sick leave in the civil service, the Civil Service Bureau has issued to all bureaux/departments a set of guidelines on the relevant procedures and measures, including CSR 1291. If a civil servant has doubts about the reasons for his being subject to the requirement under CSR 1291, he should discuss the matter with the departmental management concerned. There are also established channels for civil servants to voice their complaints on staff-management related issues, including application of CSR 1291, and for different levels of management to deal with such complaints.

Ends/Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:25

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