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8.11
We therefore recommend that as a matter of principle married female staff should have the same eligibility for fringe benefits as their male counterparts.
Implementation
8.12
We have noted the possibility that, under our proposed policy, civil servants could receive double provision of housing and other benefits. We consider this would be an unacceptable misuse of public funds. We have therefore consulted the Association of Female Senior Government Officers seeking their views on how such abuse might be prevented. We have accepted the Association's suggestions and propose that, in introducing equal eligibility for fringe benefits for married men and women, administrative arrangements should be made by Government to provide, among other things:
(a)
(b)
(c)
where both husband and wife work in Government, and both are entitled to a benefit in their own right, they be allowed to opt either for the husband's or the wife's entitlement (assuming that their entitlements are different);
where the officer's spouse is employed outside the civil service and receives a benefit, the officer should also be allowed to opt for the government entitlement. However, in such a case, the privately employed spouse should be required to obtain the employer's written confirmation that he or she has surrendered his or her right to the benefit concerned;
where the officer's spouse is employed outside the civil service and is not provided with a benefit, the officer should be entitled to the government benefit on production of a certificate from the spouse's employer that a similar benefit is not normally provided.
Date of Implementation
8.13
If our proposal for the introduction of equal eligibility for fringe benefits is accepted by Government we recommend that the necessary arrangements for its implementation be introduced as soon as possible and in any event not later than 1st April 1981.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.