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(d) set 30 April 1993 as the final date for officers to make
the transfer from contract terms to pensionable terms, otherwise the Secretary of State will not accept them as
members of HMOCS; and
that these decisions be set out in a statement by HMG to prospective and current HMOCS as soon as possible. Our Legal
Consultant is content. His advice is that since the
submission and statement will have the effect of altering the
Special Regulations, it should be approved by the Secretary of
State. But Mr Goodlad may feel that given the technical nature of the issues and the fact that no major new policy issues are involved, he can deal with the submission on behalf
of the Secretary of State.
Background and Arqument
BOUGHT BACK PENSIONABLE SERVICE
3.
When officers in Hong Kong are permitted to transfer from contract terms to pensionable terms, the Hong Kong Government (HKG) also allow them to "buy back" pensionable service- so
that they are eligible to receive a pension for the whole or any lesser period of their total service. The officer may buy back service by repaying the contract gratuities (25% of salary plus interest) he received over that period.
4. We now know that there will be a final rump of about 120 contract officers who are likely to meet the criteria for
membership of HMOCS. In addition, a number of contract
officers have, over the years, transferred and been admitted
as members of HMOCs. We need to decide whether any service
these officers buy back should count as "pensionable service"
for the purposes of our compensation scheme. Such service
buy.back.ADM
SLM
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