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The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) held a regular meeting with the Hong Kong and Kowloon Life Guards' Union (HKKLGU) today (June 23) to exchange views on various issues including manpower and recruitment of lifeguards, service extension of incumbent civil servants and grade structure review. The department has all along kept in close contact with various lifeguard unions to heed their views and respond to their requests about lifeguard manpower and grade review. In response to HKKLGU's plan for a strike on June 26 (Sunday), the LCSD urges the lifeguard colleagues to remain steadfast in performing their duties and resolve matters together in a rational manner, having regard to the public interest and without compromising the provision of lifesaving services to the public.
A spokesman for the LCSD said that the safety of swimmers has always been the department's prime consideration in the provision of lifeguards. The department will take into account the actual operational needs when reviewing the manpower arrangements for public swimming pools and beaches in case of changes in the provision and utilisation of the facilities. In addition, it has been gauging views through the Working Group on Lifeguard Manpower Review, including those from union representatives.
As a matter of fact, the LCSD has all along been striving to improve resources, and created 21 and 16 civil service lifeguard posts in 2015/16 and 2016/17 respectively. More than 180 seasonal lifeguard (SLG) quotas were added in the past five years, incurring an additional annual expenditure of $16 million. The department will continue to recruit more non-civil service SLGs to strengthen lifeguard manpower at beaches and swimming pools at different times in 2016/17.
The spokesman pointed out that the LCSD has not encountered difficulty in recruiting civil service lifeguards and there is no shortage of lifeguards on long-term employment. As regards SLGs, being short-term employees, their mobility is higher than that of civil service lifeguards.
To proactively relieve the shortage of SLGs during the summer vacation, the LCSD will not only continue with its recruitment drives, but also implement a series of initiatives including stepping up the recruitment of SLGs to serve in the peak swimming season (that is, July and August), and offering those SLGs with a two-month service a 10 per cent end-of-contract gratuity, which is a new measure to attract more young people to make good use of their summer vacation and serve the community as SLGs. Recruitment advertisements on the new arrangement will be published tomorrow (June 24). Moreover, the LCSD will organise more walk-in recruitments to speed up the hiring process.
Regarding the service extension of existing civil servants, the LCSD has been employing eligible civil service lifeguards who have retired or will soon retire for the positions of SLGs under the Post-Retirement Service Contract Scheme, so as to strengthen the manpower of SLGs. The department will also study the feasibility of extending the duration of SLG contracts.
Meanwhile, the LCSD will continue to implement the Beach SLGs Pilot Training Scheme and the Beach/Swimming Pool Trainee Scheme while working closely with the Hong Kong Life Saving Society to promote pool and beach rescue training.
On the proposal to delink lifeguards from the artisan grade, the LCSD and the Civil Service Bureau have explained to staff unions before that under the existing policy, a grade structure review will only be considered if there are proven and persistent recruitment and retention difficulties; or if there are fundamental changes in job nature, job complexity and level of responsibilities of the grade concerned. As civil service lifeguards do not meet the above criteria at present, there is no ground for conducting a grade structure review at present.
"We believe most lifeguard colleagues will take into consideration the interest of the general public and remain steadfast in performing their duties on June 26 to provide lifesaving services at swimming pools and beaches. The Hong Kong Life Saving Society, venue-based lifeguard clubs and Auxiliary Medical Service will stand by to provide assistance and strengthen lifesaving and first-aid services," the spokesman said.
He added that LCSD will maintain a close dialogue with staff unions and listen to their views. He again appealed to lifeguard colleagues to remain steadfast in their posts, serve the public professionally and work out a solution together in a rational and pragmatic manner for the sake of public interest.
Ends/Thursday, June 23, 2016
Issued at HKT 17:45
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