Hong Kong’s Minister for the Public Service believes a proposal to make it easier to get rid of poorly-performing Government workers will encourage, not discourage, potential job applicants.
Ingrid Yeung said it takes an average of 20 months to complete the dismissal process of an officer at present and the Government wants to streamline procedures so officers get just one period of performance monitoring to show they can improve.
She said the Government was also reducing the number of times workers could express views on their work performance or their supervisors' assessments.
“The Civil Service was never supposed to guarantee jobs for life,
and moving out poor performers benefits everyone,” Ms Yeung said.
However, a union representing the city’s Public Servants has pushed back at the plan
Chair of the Federation of Civil Service Unions, Leung Chau-ting said that in a highly- politicised society under-performance could be used against workers who simply made remarks that annoyed superiors.
“This will cause morale to plummet,” Mr Leung said.
Convenor of Hong Kong’s Executive Council, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said the reforms should have been introduced sooner.
“Current procedures for dismissal or compulsory retirement are too rigid and take too long,” Ms Ip (pictured) said.
“The mechanism should be streamlined to increase public sector flexibility in hiring and firing. Fairness is assured, so long as Civil Servants affected are given a chance to make representations.”
Official figure show authorities took formal disciplinary action against 451 Civil Servants for serious misconduct or criminal convictions over the past two financial years.
According to the statistics, 35 Civil Servants were dismissed in 2021-22 and another 47 in 2022-23. The number placed on compulsory retirement stood at 17 and 13 respectively.
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