IN CONFIDENCE
Comments by HMOCS Representatives in Hong Kong in response to the statement
on behalf of HMG in opening consultations
The Committee of the Association of Members
of HMOCS in Hong Kong have carefully studied the statement on behalf of HMG that was made on 7 April 1992 in opening consultations with HMOCS representatives in Hong
in Hong Kong. response to the request to receive written comments
24 April, the views of the Committee are set out below.
2.
In
by
It has long been the stated policy of HMG that compensation schemes, of the nature and purpose outlined in the opening statement, should reflect the interests of both the officers and the Government concerned. This balance is not apparent in the outline scheme now proposed. The very real and legitimate concerns of the officers have not been adequately recognised. The weight given to the perceived interests of HKG/HKSAR and HMG has been accorded at the expense of the officers' reasonable expectations.
3.
The most glaring example of this imbalance is the total omission of any reference to entitlement to retire with compensation in 1997. It has long been the stated opinion of
of HMG that, despite the need to tailor individual schemes to the particular circumstances of different territories, certain broad principles should always be applied in any compensation scheme in order to achieve the necessary balance of interests. The first of these, and the most important for
for members of HMOCS, is that overseas officers should be entitled to
to retire with compensation at the time when the Secretary of State's control is relinquished. This is a fundamental principle that needs to be clearly and unequivocally stated as a basic provision of the Hong Kong scheme.
4.
Secondly it has been a principle of general application in previous schemes that full compensation calculated on a common basis should be payable to all eligible officers, whether exercising the option to retire at or after the time at which the Secretary of State's authority lapses. Incentive payments designed to induce officers to remain in service should as a matter of
of principle be additional to and clearly separable from a basic level of fair compensation for all.
It would be particularly objectionable,
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VAS TOTAS,P:0234
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