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LCQ14: Human resources policies and pay systems of statutory bodies
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     Following is a question by the Hon Tang Ka-piu and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (February 26):

Question:

     In respect of the various statutory bodies which employ their own staff (such as the Hospital Authority as well as the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority), will the Government inform this Council:

(1)  whether it knows the following information:

(a)  for each statutory body in each of the years 2011-2012 and 2012-2013, (i) the ranks of the three posts with the highest annual remunerations (including salaries, bonuses and other cash allowances), (ii) the expenditure on the total encashed compensation for these three posts, (iii) the total number of employees, (iv) the total payroll cost, and (v) the total revenue and the percentage of Government's recurrent subvention in the total revenue;

(b)  the number of persons with disabilities (PWDs) currently employed by and its percentage in the total number of employees of each statutory body; the number of statutory bodies which have not employed any PWD; the number of statutory bodies which have drawn up policies or guidelines on the employment of PWDs;

(c)  the retirement age stipulated, and the respective numbers of days of paternity leave, maternity leave, study leave and parental leave provided to its employees by each statutory body; and

(d)  the number of employees who are currently employed at the statutory minimum wage rate by each statutory body;

(2)  whether the Government has monitored the human resources policies and pay systems (including the remunerations for and the number of employees at management level, as well as the appropriate number and terms of employment for various ranks of employees) of such statutory bodies; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3)  as there are comments that some statutory bodies have adopted a pay structure which "fattens the top and slims the bottom" or wasted public money by paying cash rewards to their staff, whether the authorities will request the governing bodies of various statutory bodies to conduct a comprehensive review on their human resources policies and pay systems and to establish well-defined mechanisms on accountability and penalties; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     Regarding the enquiry raised by Hon Tang Ka-piu, the coordinated reply prepared having consulted relevant bureaux and departments is as follows:

(1)

(a)  At present, there are about 240 statutory bodies in Hong Kong. They perform a wide range of functions in specified areas in accordance with the legislation, including advisory and regulatory functions, handling of appeals and provision of services. Those statutory bodies which employ for themselves a relatively large number of staff are mainly non-departmental public bodies and public corporations. There are 21 of them.

     The total number of employees, total payroll cost, total revenue and the percentage of Government's recurrent subvention in the total revenue of the aforementioned non-departmental public bodies and public corporations are provided in Annex 1:

     Non-departmental public bodies and public corporations all have their own governing boards or board of directors, and are required under the relevant legislation to operate independently and effectively.  The remuneration of senior executives employed by these statutory bodies are determined by their governing boards or board of directors as specified in the relevant legislation. The total remuneration of senior executives of these bodies normally comprises a fixed salary and performance-based variable pay. Generally speaking, the annual remuneration of individual posts (including salaries, bonuses and other cash allowances), the three posts receiving the highest remuneration in the body and the expenditure on the total encashed compensation for these three posts will be subject to various factors, such as the incumbents' qualifications, the market situation at the time of employment and the duties they need to perform.  This information may be related to the personal circumstances of the incumbents and disclosure of the information may affect recruitment of potential candidates.

(b)  With regard to employment of persons with disabilities, all non-departmental public bodies and public corporations will be guided by the relevant codes of practice issued by the Equal Opportunities Commission or have in place relevant policies/guidelines.  

     Information on employment of persons with disabilities by non-departmental public bodies and public corporations is provided in Annex 2.

(c)  Non-departmental public bodies and public corporations, having regard to the nature of their operation and service and their staffing requirements, will formulate suitable terms and conditions of employment for staff of different ranks. Such terms and conditions include the stipulated retirement age and employees' fringe benefits such as the numbers of days of paternity leave, maternity leave, study leave and parental leave, which are too detailed to be exhaustive. In general, non-departmental public bodies and public corporations will formulate the terms and conditions for their employees with reference to the relevant legislation and the best practices of relevant organisations.

(d)  The level of wages offered by all non-departmental public bodies and public corporations comply with the requirement for statutory minimum wage (i.e. they are at or above the level of the prevailing statutory minimum wage).

(2) & (3)  In general, the human resources policies and employees' remuneration systems of statutory bodies are determined in the light of their operational needs. The terms and conditions of employment they offer should be able to attract and retain staff of the appropriate calibre, experience and expertise and should have had due regard to the level of responsibilities of the relevant posts and the specific nature of operation of the organisations concerned.

     To achieve greater consistency and objectivity in the organisations' remuneration arrangements, in general these bodies have designated committees to deal with their remuneration policies and arrangements, to track the remuneration levels and trends in the relevant human resource market by conducting regular remuneration surveys, to review the performance and remuneration of employees, particularly that of the chief executive officers, and to formulate its recommendation to the relevant governing board or approving authority.

Ends/Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Issued at HKT 13:45

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