Two years after the Audit Commission called out Hongkong Post for its lack of profitability and other failings, the postmaster finally moved to fix a structural expense: staff costs. But the audit report probably wasn’t the main catalyst for change. Rather, it was the fact the government had to ask the Legislative Council for a…
Hong Kong’s self-financing postal administration will stop offering permanent civil service contracts to new employees as part of cost-saving measures amid a worsening financial outlook. Postmaster General Leonia Tai Shuk-yiu said on Tuesday that new Hongkong Post employees who pass probation in or after September would be offered two-year contracts on civil service terms, as…
Hong Kong’s civil service chief has pledged to deliver a “reasonable and attractive” pay adjustment once the economy and public finances improve, following the legislature’s approval of a flat 2 per cent pay rise for civil servants this year. The Legislative Council’s finance committee on Friday scrutinised HK$6 billion (US$773 million) in spending for the…
It’s that time of the year again – tax season, so don’t forget to fill out your return. It’s also the time of the year when the Hong Kong government decides on pay rises for its civil service staff of over 170,000. There’s a well-established system for deciding on pay rises. It includes the pay…
A revamped appraisal system that denies salary increments to underperforming Hong Kong civil servants is unlikely to significantly improve efficiency, observers have said, calling for a more balanced approach with team-based performance indicators. The revised system, set to be implemented in October, will penalise the bottom 10 per cent of performers – those rated D…
Hong Kong civil servants could receive a salary rise of up to 4.12 per cent this year, according to preliminary pay trend survey results, subject to final approval by the Executive Council. The survey findings, based on data from 104 private companies and released on Thursday, suggest pay increases of 4.12 per cent for senior…
Hong Kong’s top-ranking civil servants will be held accountable if they fail to provide adequate support in policy formulation, the city’s leader has said, despite a new investigation mechanism that primarily targets department heads. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that the proposed “Heads of Department Accountability System” was intended to promote self-improvement…
Hong Kong authorities will take public opinion into account when deciding whether to trigger a new investigation mechanism to hold senior officials accountable, the city’s civil service minister has said. Permanent secretaries of bureaus, who are not covered by the proposed “Heads of Department Accountability System”, will also face scrutiny if they are found to…
A statutory advisory body in Hong Kong will be given new powers as early as June to investigate government department heads over “serious, widespread or systemic” problems, as part of a broader push to institutionalise accountability for top officials. A Civil Service Bureau spokeswoman stressed that the new system targeted “implementation failures” by senior officials,…
The head of a civil service union federation has warned that tighter disciplinary action risks becoming excessive as the government seeks to revise the penalty system to handle underperforming senior civil servants this year. Leung Chau-ting, chairman of the Federation of Civil Service Unions, was responding to the Civil Service Bureau’s reply to a lawmaker’s…