'Government Justified In Sacking Arrested Staff'

Civil service secretary Patrick Nip on Sunday defended the government’s position that staff on probation can be sacked if they get arrested for taking part in ‘unlawful public activities’ – even if they’re never convicted or even charged.

Nip’s bureau had earlier issued letters to government departments to inform them of this arrangement.

He told reporters that existing civil service regulations allow heads of department to start the process of terminating staff on probation if they have been arrested and charged.

However, he said the heads would take action even if the employee hasn’t been charged for any offence.

“If colleagues are arrested, department heads would take a look at the actual situation, understand what happened, and make a judgement on whether this person is suited to work in government”, Nip said.

He dismissed suggestions that such arrangements violate the legal principle that all defendants are innocent until proven guilty.

The secretary said criminal offences have a much higher bar that should not be applied to what is essentially a workplace dispute.

“We’re talking about staff on probation – the relationship [with the government] is that of employer and employee. Both sides would be trying to determine whether the staff member is suited to working in the organisation. So the bar is different than that for criminal prosecutions and convictions”, Nip said.

He added that when the government must judge the suitability of the staff member concerned to work in the administration by looking at his or her character, conduct and performance.

“This is the purpose of the probationary period”, he said.

Typically, new civil servants are given two years of probation in an observation period before they are appointed on permanent terms.

Meanwhile, Nip also said the government is working to finalise arrangements for its universal Covid-19 testing scheme due to be held in the first two weeks of September.

He said officials have identified over a hundred venues across 18 districts to act as testing stations – including community halls, schools and sports venues.

Officials are checking to see if the ventilation in the chosen locations is adequate, he said, before they are confirmed as testing stations.

Thousands of medical staff have been recruited to take samples, and thousands of active and retired civil servants have also been brought on to help with the administrative tasks involved, he said.