TNAG-0822-FCO40-1029-Policy-on-salaries-for-civil-servants-in-Hong-Kong-1978 — Page 502

CONFIDENTIAL

ORIGINAL HIGHER STARTING SALARY. BOTH STARTING SALARY

POINTS ARE COMMON TO A NUMBER OF GRADES (MALE OR FEMALE) REQ XING

SIMILAR ENTRY QUALIFICATIONS. THEY CANNOT, THEREFORE, BE VARIED WITHOUT FAR-REACHING IMPLICATIONS. INCIDENTALLY, THIS ALSO SHOWS

THAT, AS FAR AS STARTING SALARIES ARE CONCERNED, THERE CAN BE NO QUESTION OF THE SAT'S HAVING LOST OUT THROUGH ''EQUAL PAY'': (B) ENTRY QUALIFICATIONS.

70 WORDS PER MINUTE (THE ORIGINAL MINIMUM REQUIREMENT) WAS LOWER

THAN THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENT IN ANY LOCAL COMMERCIAL

SCHOOL AND

WAS FOUND TO BE INSUFFICIENT ON THE JOB. THE NEW MINIMUM OF 80 WPM IS THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENT IN ANY LOCAL COMMERCIAL SCHOOL. INCIDENTALLY IT IS WELL BELOW THE MINIMUM UK CIVIL SERVICE

REQUIREMENT, WHICH IS 100 WPM.

(C) PROMOTION.

ANY PERIOD OF RAPID EXPANSION GIVES RISE TO VERY RAPID PROMOTION,

WHICH INVARIABLY SLOWS DOWN AS EXPANSION ITSELF SLOWS. TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE THIS IS ACCEPTED BY TRADE UNIONS IN BOTH HK AND UK. FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE UK THE EXECUTIVE GRADE IS AT PRESENT CONTRACTING, WITH A CONSEQUENT LOSS OF ADVANCEMENT PROSPECTS FOR

CLERICAL OFFICERS, BUT, AS FAR AS I KNOW, THERE IS NO SUGGESTION OF COMPENSATING'' CLERICAL OFFICERS FOR THIS LOSS OF PROSPECTS. IT WOULD CERTAINLY BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO APPLY SUCH A DOCTRINE

HERE:

(D) PROFICIENCY INCREMENTS,

EXISTING MEMBERS OF THE GRADE RETAIN THEIR RIGHT TO RECEIVE

INCREMENTS AT THE ORIGINAL STANDARDS. THE NEW STANDARDS APPLY ONLY TO NEW ENTRANTS, WHO ARE NOT IN DISPUTE''.

5. YOU MIGHT FIND IT HELPFUL IF I RECAPITULATE THE BASIC POSITION

AS WE SEE IT HERE:

(A) THE SAT'S SALARY SCALE HAS BEEN EXAMINED IN DETAIL AND REVISED SEVERAL TIMES SINCE EQUAL PAY POLICY WAS FIRST ADOPTED IN 1965, THESE REVIEWS AND REVISIONS SPECIFICALLY TOOK INTO ACCOUNT EFFECTS OF EQUAL PAY:

(B) SATS ARE FAIRLY PAID IN RELATION TO CIVIL SERVICE COLLEAGUES

AND PRIVATE SECTOR ANALOGUES IN HONG KONG (AND, INCIDENTALLY, IN UK: THOUGH THIS IS NOT STRICTLY RELEVANT, IT MAY CARRY SOME WEIGHT WITH UK CRITICS). THIS IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH OUR (AND THE UK'S) LONGSTANDING POLICY OF NOT. ALLOWING PUBLIC SECTOR WAGE

RATES TO ''LEAD'' THOSE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR:

(C) TO CHANGE THIS POLICY, 1.E. TO ALLOW PUBLIC SECTOR WAGE

RATES TO ''LEAD'' THOSE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR, WOULD, IN HONG KONG,

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