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Following is a question by the Hon Tang Ka-piu and a reply by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Paul Tang, in the Legislative Council today (October 16):
Question:
The Panel on Public Service of this Council passed, at its meeting held on July 15 this year, the following motion moved by me: "this Panel urges the Government to take forward the full implementation of '44 hours of work gross per week (inclusive of meal breaks)' as a condition of service for Government employees and give priority to the immediate implementation of '44 hours of work gross per week (inclusive of meal breaks)' for civil servants under the Department of Health working in the Hospital Authority". The Civil Service Bureau indicated, in its written response made at the end of last month, that the authorities were studying proposals to reduce the conditioned hours of work of all employees belonging to Model Scale (MOD) 1 grades, and were inviting various bureaux and departments to assess the viability of launching a related trial scheme to reduce the conditioned hours of the employees of such grades (including those civil servants of MOD 1 grades of the Department of Health working in the Hospital Authority (HA)) from 45 hours net per week exclusive of meal breaks (net hours) to 45 hours gross per week inclusive of meal breaks (gross hours). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) as the authorities indicated in the aforesaid response that the returns from bureaux and departments on the assessment of the viability of the trial scheme would be received by the third quarter of this year, whether they have received those returns; if so, of the total number of employees involved in the trial scheme to be launched and the expected time for concluding and publishing the results of the relevant study; if such returns have not yet been received from all bureaux and departments concerned, the reasons for that;
(b) upon the full implementation of the aforesaid trial scheme, whether the Department of Health will, in response to the demand of the staff union, work towards ultimately reducing the conditioned hours of work of the civil servants of MOD 1 grades working in HA to 44 gross hours per week, to align them with the gross hours of the staff of HA's supporting grades; if it will, of the details; and
(c) whether the authorities will further consider aligning the weekly gross hours of all civil servants and non-civil service contract staff to 44 hours, so as to take the lead in implementing a system of standard working hours?
Reply:
President,
The Administration has, on different occasions (including meetings of the Legislative Council Panel on Public Service) and via different channels, set out its policy governing the conditioned hours of work of the civil service. In short, there is no uniform conditioned hours of work in the civil service. Specific conditioned hours of work are laid down for different grades in the civil service based on their job nature, operational requirements and other relevant considerations. In determining the pay of different civil service grades, the Administration has taken into account their stipulated conditioned hours of work. For effective management of the civil service and to ensure parity treatment, all members within the same grade or rank are subject to the same system of conditioned hours of work and the same number of conditioned working hours per week. The existing conditioned hours of work for different grades have evolved over the years and are determined having regard to the proposals made by the relevant advisory bodies.
Under the existing policy, any proposals on reduction of conditioned working hours of individual civil service grades have to meet the three prerequisites of cost-neutrality, no additional manpower and maintaining the same level of service to the public. Moreover, the Administration has to take into consideration various factors, including the operational needs of the grades concerned, justifications for changing their conditioned hours of work and the implications of such reduction on other grades with the same conditioned hours of work.
As pointed out by the Honourable Tang in his question, we have invited bureaux and departments (B/Ds) to conduct a review on the Model Scale (MOD) 1 grades to explore whether there is any room for reducing the conditioned working hours of individual grades from 45 hours net per week to 45 hours gross per week subject to the three prerequisites mentioned above.
Regarding part (a) of the question, as at June 30, 2013, there were about 7 500 MOD 1 civil servants working 45 hours net per week. Given that some B/Ds with relatively more MOD 1 civil servants require more time collating information as well as critically assessing and examining the proposals of reducing the conditioned hours of work, the Administration is still receiving replies from B/Ds. Upon receipt of all their replies, we will have to further examine the assessment submitted by B/Ds and conduct in-depth discussion with individual B/Ds in order to finalise the details of proposals, if any. If everything proceeds smoothly, we expect that the relevant study will be completed by the end of 2013.
Regarding part (b) of the question, the aforesaid review has already covered the existing MOD 1 civil servants serving in the Hospital Authority (HA) and working 45 hours net per week. As they are civil servants, their remuneration and conditions of service, including the requirements on their conditioned hours of work, will continue to be subject to the protection and constraint of the Civil Service Regulations. Thus, whether their conditioned hours of work can eventually be reduced will depend on whether the three prerequisites and other relevant factors can be met.
Regarding part (c) of the question, I would like to reiterate that under the existing policy, in order to ensure the prudent use of public funds and the maintenance of the level of service to the public, the Administration will consider a proposal of reducing the conditioned hours of work of an individual civil service grade only if it complies with the three prerequisites. In considering any proposal of reducing the conditioned working hours, the Administration will take into account the duties and responsibilities of the grade concerned, its operational requirements, the manpower situation, the implications of such proposal on other civil service grades, and other relevant factors. As I have mentioned earlier, there is no uniform conditioned hours of work in the civil service, nor is there a similar arrangement for non-civil service contract (NCSC) staff. In view of the job nature and operational requirements of different departments and other relevant considerations, as well as the fact that the terms of employment and conditions of service of NCSC staff and of civil servants are distinct from each other, we consider it not appropriate to align the weekly conditioned hours of work of all civil servants and NCSC staff to 44 hours.
On the issue of standard working hours, the Government already set up in April this year the Standard Working Hours Committee with members coming from the labour and business sectors, academia, community and Government. The Committee will encourage different sectors of the community to carry out in-depth, informed and objective discussion on the subject of working hours with a view to jointly exploring and identifying proposals that suit the needs of Hong Kong.
Thank you, President.
Ends/Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Issued at HKT 13:47
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