Govt 'in Talks' Over Civil Service Increments

Civil Service Secretary Joshua Law said on Friday that the government is in talks with civil service groups over whether to change a long-held system where annual increments given to public sector workers are deducted from a formula setting out their salary adjustments every year.

Many civil service groups have said they're not satisfied with the extent of pay rises offered this year, saying the 4.06 percent increase for senior officials, and 4.51 percent pay rise for lower and middle-ranking staff were suppressed because their increments have been deducted from the calculation.

These increments are salary increases given to civil servants every year to reflect their experience, but these increments are capped at a specific level, meaning senior staff no longer receive any increments after a number of years.

Both pro-government and pro-democracy parties spoke out against the arrangement at a Legco panel meeting.

Federation of Trade Unions lawmaker Kwok Wai-keung said it's particularly unfair to civil servants who've reached their capped salary level for their rank. Democratic Party legislator Lam Cheung-ting and the DAB's Ann Chiang also raised concerns about the arrangement.

But Law told the lawmakers that the pay trend survey – which tracks private sector pay and is used to suggest pay adjustments for civil servants – already takes the effect of such increments into account.

However, he said the government is discussing the mechanism with civil servants, to see whether it should be changed in future. The system was first adopted in 1989.

Unions say that this year's deductions for lower-ranked civil servants have reached an all-time high of 2.05 percent. They're worried that the amount of deductions will continue to rise, with an increasing number of people joining the service.