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The Chief Executive-in-Council (CE-in-Council) has taken a decision today (October 20) on the grade structure review (GSR) reports on (i) the directorate, (ii) the seven disciplined services, and (iii) specific civilian grades.
"In reaching its decision, the CE-in-Council has had regard to, among others, the recommendations of the three advisory bodies on civil service salaries and conditions of service, the views and comments of the concerned departmental management and staff sides, and the wider community interests," a spokesman of the Civil Service Bureau said.
In gist, the CE-in-Council has decided that:
(a) the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service in its GSR report on the civilian directorate should be accepted, subject to a refinement of the recommendation on the frequency of future reviews;
(b) the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Disciplined Services Salaries and Conditions of Service in its GSR report on the disciplined services should be accepted, subject to refinement of the recommendations on the frequency of future reviews and the maximum pay point of the Sergeant rank of the Police Force and comparable ranks in the other disciplined services;
(c) the recommendations of the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service in its GSR report on the Veterinary Officer grade and the non-directorate ranks of the legal grades should be accepted in full;
(d) subject to the approval of the Finance Committee of Legislative Council, the recommendations relating to salary and increment should be implemented with retrospective effect from April 1, 2009. The other recommendations on job-related allowances and conditioned hours of work should be implemented from a prospective date when the necessary arrangements are put in place; and
(e) subject to the approval of the Finance Committee of Legislative Council, a special arrangement should be put in place for calculating the pension benefits of those civil servants covered by the three GSR reports who retired/resigned/passed away during the period between November 27, 2008 and March 31, 2009, or who were injured/died on duty with additional/dependant pension during the aforesaid period of time.
"The refinement on the frequency of future reviews is aimed to provide greater flexibility so that comprehensive reviews on the civilian directorate and the disciplined services may be undertaken as and when necessary. The refinement on the maximum pay point of the Sergeant and other comparable ranks is to ensure that their pay is commensurate with their work and responsibilities and that there is an appropriate pay relativity between these ranks and their immediate lower ranks," the spokesman continued.
"The implementation arrangements aim to strike a reasonable balance between the aspirations of the affected civil servants on the one hand, and the wider community interest including fiscal prudence on the other," added the spokesman.
The Administration will seek the necessary approval from the Finance Committee of Legislative Council in the coming weeks.
The three GSR reports were submitted to the Chief Executive last November (November 27, 2008) by the concerned advisory bodies. The Administration would like to express its gratitude to these advisory bodies for their thorough deliberations and consultations with the affected departmental management and the staff sides in the course of the GSR. The Civil Service Bureau conducted extensive consultations with the stakeholders on the findings and recommendations in the three GSR reports from December 2008 to June 2009.
Ends/Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:46
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