TNAG-0785-FCO40-989-Study-of-labour-relations-in-Hong-Kong-by-Professor-H-A-Turn-1978 — Page 168

strictly defined different occupations - the Master Pay Scale (MPS).

This consisted of a 48-point scale into which salary grades for 47 separate

9

occupations were slotted. At present, salaries range from $615 HK per

month (point) to $7,810 HK pm (48 points). The MPS covers professional,

managerial, sub-managerial, technical and other white collar workers who

make up about 60% of the civil service.

!

Excluded from the MPS are Directorate salaries ($8,550 to $19,850 HK pm)

which covers the 500 top posts in the civil service. This group has its own

standing salary revision committee. Also excluded are the 39,000'Model

Scale' employees mainly unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled manual workers

with base salaries ranging from $745 to $1120 HK pm. In addition to their

base salaries, these workers receive quarterly increases calculated from

the modified consumer price index. The government is pursuing a tacit policy

of incorporating the so-called Mod Scale 1. employees into the MPS.

The SCSC only considers civil servants on the MTS. It is also

excluded from-considering the pay of police and those employed by the Independent

Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). The rate of salary of increase for

both these groups has far outstripped that of employees on the MPS, leading

to complaints especially from other disciplined services such as the Fire

Department.

-The PIU conducts an annual survey for Hod Scale 1 employees at the

same time as the survey for those on the MPS. For the latter, the PIU collects

data on salary, fringe benefits and other working conditions from 68 firms

selected on the basis of size, stability, employment conditions and.

comparability of jobs offerred with those in the civil service.

This sample

is subject to much private sector criticism as being unrepresentative of

general employment conditions in Hong Kong. At the other extreme, union

officials have-questioned both the independence of the PIU and the accuracy

of the information it obtains.

2.

Salary grades applying as at 1976/7.