TNAG-2668-FCO40-3865-Hong-Kong-Civil-Service-1993 — Page 164

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On renewal -

Instead of the present procedure under which a long term (often erroneous) prediction is made as to whether a local candidate will be available to replace an overseas agreement service officer, a new system could be established under which, for example, -

(a) the officer is advised one year before the end of his current agreement that the Government considers that a person could be recruited on local terms of service to replace him and that a recruitment excercise would be held in 3 months on the basis of local terms of service which would leave 9 months to run on the agreement and allow time for the officer to seek other employment if he chose not to stay. Applicants would have it made clear to them that they would only be considered if the incumbent did not take up the option to stay on local terms; (b) if a qualified and satisfactory person applies, the incumbent would have the option of converting to local terms of service or leaving at the end of his agreement;

(c) if no qualified and satisfactory person applies, the incumbent officer would be offered a renewal on enhanced terms of service, assuming the officer's performance has been satisfactory and that the post is still required.

(Note that the renewal procedure would apply to all permanent residents employed on enhanced terms of service, thus keeping it on a strictly economic basis.)

New plan should prevent abuse

55.

Whatever new procedures are adopted, they should be seen to be fair and not subject to abuse by the Government. The above procedure may be viewed as cumbersome but it has the value of demonstrating unequivocally that a person on local terms of service is available. Without such a procedure, the Government could merely assert that a person on local terms is available and require the incumbent to choose between staying or converting to local terms. The conversion to local terms should only be required where the Government can demonstrate that the circumstances under which the person was first employed (no person could be found on local terms) have changed.

Royston A. Griffey - President

Allan R. Roger -

Immediate Past President;

Chairman, AECS Localisation Committee