TNAG-0991-FCO40-1210-Policy-on-salaries-and-pensions-for-civil-service-in-Hong-Ko-1980 — Page 329

Flow aver

A

Kins's Wor

12

a typical clause, referring to CRs and CRS provides :-

"On assuming duty, it is the responsibility

of individual officers to acquaint themselves with

all such regulations and instructions".

These factors, in my view, would incline a judge to find that the officer was not reasonably bound or entitled to conclude from the attitude of the person conveying the Crown's offer of employment, and having regard to the nature of the regulations, that these regulations were intended to

be part of the contract.

The Government Regulations

As I have argued, Government Regulations, including Civil Service Regulations, are largely directions for guidance issued by the Governor as head of the civil service. By far the greater number do not require any sanction in the legal sense. In this regard they are no different from regulations which might be issued by the managing director of a large company. Their purpose is simply to tell both sub-management and workers "how we do things in this organization". In the case of a large business such regulations obtain their efficacy, not usually from contract, but from the employer's authority. If any employee at whom regulations are aimed does not adhere to them he would attract censure. If he was repeatedly in breach of his employer's regulations he could properly be dismissed. Such is essentially true also of the Government regulations. At common law, however, the non-government servant may normally only be dismissed for non-performance of duties or disobedience of reasonable and lawful orders. At common law the employer has no right, e.g. to reduce salary for partial performance of duties (see, e.g. Marshall v. English Electric Co. (1945) 61 TLR 379.

By distinction, if my analysis is correct, the Hong Kong Government Servant belongs to a quasi-disciplined service. CSR 400 provides that "an officer [i.e. all officers, contract or permanent and pensionable is subject to Government regulations ... and to Colonial Regulations insofar as these are applicable to him". CSR 410 provides that an officer who

!