TNAG-0822-FCO40-1029-Policy-on-salaries-for-civil-servants-in-Hong-Kong-1978 — Page 234

(c) it would not be possible to have a Shorthand/Audio

Typist serving on a selection board for a rank higher. than her own. All officers on selection boards should be at least one rank higher than the rank for which selections were being made; General Grades Division would go very carefully into the choice of board members and include, if possible, at least one mutually acceptable Senior Personal Secretary, (a) the number of vacancies filled from the first travl

would depend entirely on the suitability of applicants. There had been only 97 applicants for 70 vacancies; of these 7 were Senior Typists, 76 Shorthand/Audio Typists and 14 Personal Secretaries. If there were insufficient very good officers with the qualities the key rank of Supervisor of Typing Services_required then vacancies remaining would be readvertised.

Miss V. So said that as the grades of Typist and Personal Secretary had promotion prospects within their grades whereas bal's had none the question of a quota of STS vacancies for SATs was a reasonable request in the light of the promotion exercise being basically 'once and for all' and should be reviewed.

IV. Matters arising

Salary Structure

Mrs. Cheung handed to the Official Side copies of a statistical table setting out the pay scales of a number of grades. Government should consider favourably amending the pay scale of Shorthand/

She said that Audio Typists for the following reasons,

(a) from 1967 to 1970, Shorthand/Audio Typists had enjoyed a maximum 29% higher than that of Clerical Officer II. However from 1971 to 1976 that of Clerical Officer II had been 40% higher than that of Shorthand/Audio Typist; (b) as Shorthand/Audio Typists had before the 1971 Salaries Commission enjoyed a higher salary maximum than that of Clerical Officer II it meant that they had had responsibi- lities greater than those of Clerical Officer II;

(c) the Shorthand/Audio Typist grade and other grades in the Secretarial Class had not been treated fairly by the 1971 Salaries Commission. The Class had had no male officers and they had suffered relatively wit female officers in other grades as a result of the equal pay scheme. Although the Salaries Commission had said their proposed scales corrected anomalies, they had done so insufficiently. If equal pay were only for those female officers with male counterparts then it would appear that Government was unfairly discriminating against female officers;