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The following is issued on behalf of the Pay Trend Survey Committee.
The Pay Trend Survey Committee (PTSC) met today (March 30) and commissioned the 2007 Pay Trend Survey (PTS).
The PTSC is a tripartite committee comprising representatives of independent lay members from the business, professional and academic sectors, as well as government and staff side representatives. The PTSC chairman is Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung who is also a member of the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service (the Standing Commission). The PTS field work will be undertaken by the Pay Survey and Research Unit (PSRU), which is an independent survey and data analysis agency under the supervision of the Standing Commission.
In announcing the commissioning of the survey, Professor Cheung said, "The PTSC reached consensus on three issues: (a) to adopt the improved methodology approved by the Chief Executive-in-Council to conduct the 2007 PTS; (b) to invite more than 100 companies including both bigger companies (employing 100 staff or more) and smaller companies (employing 50-99 staff) to participate in the 2007 PTS; and (c) to commission the 2007 PTS in accordance with the terms of reference of the PTSC."
With the approval of the Chief Executive-in-Council, it has been decided that a PTS based on improved methodology should be conducted for the period April 2, 2006 to April 1, 2007. The improved PTS methodology, which is the outcome of extensive consultation with the staff sides, encompasses the broadening of the survey field to include both large companies (employing 100 or more staff) and smaller companies (employing 50-99 staff), and the modification to the data consolidation method to complement the broadening of the survey field. As a general guideline, large and smaller companies would make up 75% and 25% of the survey field respectively. In addition, regard would also be given to selecting companies so that the survey field will reflect the overall distribution of Hong Kong's economically active population in the major sectors of our economy.
"The PTS 2007 seeks to capture pay adjustment for all full-time employees of participating private sector companies over the preceding 12-month period i.e. April 2, 2006 to April 1, 2007. The survey results will provide important reference for the Government to consider annual pay adjustment for the civil service," Professor Cheung said.
"The target companies are those regarded as typical employers in their respective fields, generally known as steady and good employers conducting salary administration on a rational and systematic basis. We earnestly appeal to our target companies for support, which would be crucial to the success of the survey," Professor Cheung said.
He emphasised that all pay related data to be made available to the Pay Survey and Research Unit was only to facilitate the compilation of the pay trend indicators. Strict confidentiality would be observed in the storage and handling of such information.
Ends/Friday, March 30, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:31
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