*******************************************************
The Civil Service Bureau (CSB) announced today (February 10) that the Chief Executive-in-Council (CE-in-Council) has decided on the application of the findings of the 2013 Pay Level Survey (PLS) to the civil service. According to the decisions of the CE-in-Council:
(a) the salaries of civilian civil servants in Job Levels (JLs) 1 to 4 (i.e. those remunerated on Master Pay Scale (MPS) point 44 and below) or equivalent will remain unchanged, and those of civilian civil servants in JL 5 (i.e. those remunerated on MPS points 45 to 49) are to be raised by 3 per cent with effect from October 1, 2014, in accordance with the recommendations of the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service (Standing Commission) made in its Report No. 52;
(b) the recommended pay adjustment for civilian civil servants in (a) above is to be applied to civil servants in the disciplined services and staff of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) remunerated on the equivalent range of pay points as JL 5 as well as directorate officers in the disciplined services and the ICAC (except for their heads) with effect from the same date as recommended by the Standing Committee on Disciplined Services Salaries and Conditions of Service (SCDS), i.e. their salaries are to be raised by 3 per cent with effect from October 1, 2014; and
(c) the salaries of civilian directorate civil servants and heads of disciplined services and the ICAC are to be adjusted in the same way as that for civilian civil servants in JL 5 (i.e. to be raised by 3 per cent) with effect from the same date (i.e. October 1, 2014) as recommended by the Standing Committee on Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service (Directorate Committee).
A CSB spokesperson said, "The PLS is an integral part of the Improved Civil Service Pay Adjustment Mechanism. It is conducted every six years to ascertain whether civil service pay is broadly comparable with private sector pay. In accordance with the time frame under the Mechanism, the Administration invited the Standing Commission in December 2011 to conduct the 2013 PLS and advise the Administration on how the survey findings should be applied to non-directorate civilian civil service grades."
The spokesperson continued, "With the assistance of a professional consultant, the Standing Commission completed the 2013 PLS and submitted its findings and recommendations to the CE on October 30, 2014 (vide its Report No. 52). The methodology of the 2013 PLS is largely the same as that of the last PLS, with October 1, 2013, as its reference date.
"The 2013 PLS successfully collected pay data from 128 private sector organisations. In accordance with the survey methodology, non-directorate civilian civil servants are classified into five JLs according to their level of responsibilities (and hence their pay points) (JL 1 being the lowest and JL 5 being the highest) for salary comparison with the private sector organisations. The survey found that, except for JL 5, the pay level of civil servants in all other JLs remained broadly comparable with the upper third quartile (i.e. P75) level of private sector pay for jobs with comparable nature and similar level of responsibilities. The pay for civil servants in JL 5, on the other hand, was found to be around 8 per cent lower than the P75 level of private sector pay. Having considered various factors, the Standing Commission considered that a holistic approach should be adopted in applying the survey findings to the non-directorate civilian civil servants and hence recommended that:
(a) no change should be made to the salaries of officers of JLs 1 to 4;
(b) an upward adjustment of 3 per cent should be made to the salaries of officers of JL 5; and
(c) the above pay adjustment for JL 5 should take effect from October 1, 2014 (i.e. the first day of the month the Standing Commission submitted the 2013 PLS report to the CE). The Commission realised there might be expectation that the pay adjustment would take retrospective effect from the survey reference date (i.e. October 1, 2013). It however did not see a justifiable case for such a long backdating arrangement, nor did it think it would meet the public expectation of the prudent use of public funds."
The spokesperson added, "The Standing Commission has closely engaged staff representatives at various key stages of the survey and has taken into account their views in coming up with its recommendations. The survey has adopted the arrangement of the last survey. Apart from base salary, the survey has also taken as the basis of comparison the variable pay and fringe benefits paid in cash of the private sector as well as the fringe benefits paid in cash of the civil service." The spokesperson stressed that the Standing Commission has strived to discharge its role objectively and fairly and balance diverse interests.
"Since the PLS did not cover the disciplined services and the directorate grades, the Administration has consulted the SCDS and the Directorate Committee on how the 2013 PLS findings should be applied to them. The two advisory bodies recommended that the Administration should apply the 2013 PLS findings by internal relativities with effect from October 1, 2014," the spokesperson stated.
"Upon considering the stakeholders' views and the wider community interests, the CE-in-Council decided that the recommendations of the Standing Commission, the SCDS and the Directorate Committee should be accepted," the spokesperson explained.
"The Administration would like to express its gratitude to the Standing Commission for the time and effort it has devoted to the 2013 PLS. The Administration is also grateful to the SCDS and the Directorate Committee for their advice on how the 2013 PLS findings should be applied to the disciplined services and directorate grades," the spokesperson said.
The CSB plans to brief the Legislative Council Panel on Public Service on the CE-in-Council's decisions on the 2013 PLS at its meeting to be held on February 16, 2015, and then submit the pay adjustment proposals to the Legislative Council Finance Committee for approval.
Ends/Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:16
NNNN
