Union Blasts Fat Cat Wages At Publicly Funded NGOs

Generous salaries handed out to senior staff at non-governmental organisations are coming under scrutiny, as newly released figures show some groups that receive public money in subsidies pay top bosses millions of dollars a year.

The bumper packages have been revealed in documents uploaded to the website of the Social Welfare Department (SWD).

Among the top earners is a community services secretary at the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals who was paid more than HK$2.75 million in the 2017-18 financial year.

This is over HK$400,000 more than an assistant director at the SWD makes.

Top staff at the Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council, the Hong Kong Christian Service and the Society for the Aged were also among the sector's top earners.

The Social Welfare Organisations Employees Union, which examined the reports on dozens of groups who receive lump sum grants from the government, said some NGOs are misusing public money.

The union said senior staff members at the four groups had received more than HK$2 million a year in wages and the government should strengthen monitoring of how the NGOs use their funds.

But in response to the concerns, Labour and Welfare Secretary Law Chi-kwong said the salaries paid to NGO executives are comparable to those given to senior civil servants.

"They do not have similar fringe benefits as provided under the Civil Service arrangement, and therefore they encash those cash benefits into the salary," Law said.

The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals also defended the salary given to its staff member singled out.

It said the employee has worked with the group for more than 30 years and a bonus included in the HK$2.75 million figure reflected this person's experience and workload.