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A spokesman for the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) said today (May 19) that the bureau has received the tentative results (subject to verification) of the 2015 Pay Trend Survey from the secretariat of the Pay Trend Survey Committee today.
The tentative results, which are subject to verification and presented in the form of "gross pay trend indicators", show the rates of pay adjustment in the private sector in three defined salary bands for the period from April 2, 2014, to April 1, 2015. The Pay Trend Survey Committee will meet next week to decide whether or not to validate the gross pay trend indicators. The civil service payroll cost of increments incurred in 2014-15 for each defined salary band will be deducted from the respective gross pay trend indicators to produce the "net pay trend indicator" for each salary band.
"The net pay trend indicators will continue to be one of the factors that the Chief Executive-in-Council will consider in deciding whether and (if so) how to adjust civil service pay for 2015-16. Other factors that will be considered are the state of Hong Kong's economy, the Government's fiscal position, changes in the cost of living, the staff sides' pay claims and civil service morale," the CSB spokesman said.
"The Pay Trend Survey is a long-established mechanism. Over the years, it has objectively reflected the year-on-year pay movements of private sector organisations. With many years of ongoing efforts by the Pay Trend Survey Committee, which is a tripartite committee consisting of representatives of the staff sides of the four central consultative councils, the two independent advisory bodies (namely, the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service and the Standing Committee on Disciplined Services Salaries and Conditions of Service) as well as the Government, a credible and representative mechanism and methodology have been developed for the Pay Trend Survey. Every year before commencing the Pay Trend Survey, the Pay Trend Survey Committee reviews the survey methodology. While some staff side representatives have not participated in the Pay Trend Survey Committee, the Committee has reviewed each and every aspect of the methodology and has thoroughly discussed all suggestions raised by members at the meetings or in writing during the review process. The Government believes that the Committee has strived to ensure that the 2015 Pay Trend Survey was conducted in accordance with the established mechanism and agreed methodology, and the 2015 Pay Trend Survey has continued to objectively reflect the pay adjustment of the surveyed private sector organisations in the previous year," the CSB spokesman added.
The civil service payroll cost of increments for each of the three defined salary bands incurred in 2014-15, expressed as a percentage of the total civil service payroll cost of the bands concerned, is as follows:
Cost of increment
as a percentage
of the total
Salary band civil service payroll cost
of the respective salary band
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Upper 1%
(monthly salary
from $59,486 to
$118,840)
Middle 0.94%
(monthly salary
from $19,410 to
$59,485)
Lower 1.71%
(monthly salary
below $19,410)
Ends/Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Issued at HKT 17:42
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