The Civil Service
The Civil Service employs about 6 per cent of Hong Kong's
workforce. It provides staff for all government departments
and other units of the administration. At October 1, 1997, the
total strength of the Civil Service was 184 600, with staff
distributed among some 430 grades and 1 256 ranks.
Overall responsibility for the management of the Civil Service
lies with the Civil Service Bureau of the Government
Secretariat. The bureau deals with policies and case work on
such matters as appointments, pay and conditions of service,
staff management, manpower planning, training and discipline.
It is also the focal point for consultation with the principal
staff associations and its General Grades Office manages the
30 000 executive, clerical and secretarial staff.
The principle of open and fair competition is the cornerstone
of the government's appointment policy which aims to recruit
the 'best person for the job'. The appointment process is open,
transparent and non-discriminatory. For checks and balances,
recruitment and promotion to the middle and senior ranks of
the Civil Service are subject to the advice of the Public Service
Commission, an independent statutory body comprising a
full-time chairman and prominent citizens serving as members.
In accordance with the Basic Law, all new appointees to the
Civil Service on or after July 1, 1997, must be permanent
residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,
save for those who fall within the exceptions pursuant to
Articles 99 and 101 of the Basic Law.
It is also a Basic Law requirement that the specified Principal
Official posts must be filled by Chinese citizens who are
permanent residents of the HKSAR with no right of abode in
any foreign country.
The government is advised on matters relating to pay and
conditions of service by four independent bodies, the Standing
Committees on: Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service
(senior officers); Judicial Salaries and Conditions of Service
(judicial officers); and Disciplined Services Salaries and
Conditions of Service (the disciplined services); plus the
Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions
of Service (all other civil servants).
It is government policy to provide a long-term career for civil
servants and thus civil servants are employed on permanent
and pensionable (P&P) terms whenever possible. P&P
officers may normally aspire to serve up to the normal
retirement age with pension benefits prescribed by statute.
Agreement terms (appointment for a fixed term with end of
contract gratuity) are used to employ staff only when there are
circumstances that justify doing so, as when P&P terms fail to
attract and retain sufficient qualified and suitable candidates, or
when the appointment is required only for a specific period.
As a result, officers on agreement terms comprise less than 2
per cent of the Civil Service. Renewal of agreement depends,
inter alia, on service need, satisfactory conduct and
performance, and physical fitness.
Turnover in the Civil Service has always been low compared
with the private sector and the wastage rate of the overall Civil
Service in 1996/97 was 4.3 per cent - its lowest in nine years.
Continuity at the management level is particularly important.
For this purpose the government has a well-organised staff
planning system. The Secretary for the Civil Service holds
regular meetings with Heads of Departments and their Policy
Secretaries to review succession planning of senior staff and
to identify and groom officers with potential for senior
management, in order to ensure a steady supply of talent to
senior positions.
Historically, the terms of appointment and conditions of
service for overseas officers and local officers have been
different. The 'overseas' or 'local' status of an officer is
determined with reference to habitual residency, general
background and social ties and potential dislocation or
up-rooting when appointed. It is not based on race or
nationality. Over the years, the government has narrowed the
gap and now local and overseas conditions of service are
close.
Localisation of the Civil Service is a long-established policy of
the government, dating from 1950 when the Public Service
Commission came into being. Since then, recruitment of
overseas candidates has been considered only when there are
no fully qualified and suitable local candidates available and the
qualification for appointment cannot be modified to enable a
local candidate to be appointed. In addition, renewal of an
overseas agreement is subject to the lack of a suitable local
replacement.
As a long-term measure, the government would like to
introduce a uniform set of terms of appointment and
conditions of service for all new appointments to replace the
existing differential between local and overseas terms and
conditions. Detailed proposals are being worked out.
The government values regular communication and
consultation with staff. There are four consultative councils at
the central level: the Senior Civil Service Council, the Model
Scale 1 Staff Consultative Council, the Disciplined Services
Consultative Council and the Police Force Council. More than
80 consultative committees operate at the departmental level. A
Civil Service Newsletter is published quarterly to provide an
added link with serving and retired civil servants.
Staff commitment and contributions are recognised in various
forms including appreciation letters, commendations and
honours or awards. Long Service Travel Awards, Long and
Meritorious Service Awards and retirement souvenirs are
given to long-serving staff.
Some 17 per cent of the civil service workforce, comprising
28 000 officers, are clerical and secretarial grades staff. They
play a very important role in providing office support to
government departments and in delivering front-line services
to the public. Hitherto, the duties of these grades have been
distinctly demarcated and, as such, inhibit the effective
deployment of human resources. The administration has
initiated changes to streamline the structures of the clerical and
secretarial grades to remove restrictive practices and enhance
the word processing and computing skills of these staff to
provide a more versatile general support service in government
departments. It is hoped that implementation of these
measures will lead to a leaner and more effective workforce in
the long run.
The government respects personal data and is committed to
fully implementing and complying with the Data Protection
Principles and all relevant provisions of the Personal Data
(Privacy) Ordinance which came into force in late December
1996. A procedural guide on the processing of
employment-related personal data has been issued to data
users in the civil service advising them that the interests of
data subjects should be a primary concern when collecting,
using, handling, storing and transmitting personal data.
Seminars, workshops and training courses have also been
conducted to enhance civil servants' awareness of their legal
rights and obligations under the ordinance.
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