The Chief Executive-in-Council has accepted recommendations to keep civil service starting salaries unchanged, the Civil Service Bureau announced today.
The recommendations were made by the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries & Conditions of Service and the Standing Committee on Disciplined Services Salaries & Conditions of Service.
The 2015 Starting Salaries Survey found that except degree and related grades, the differences between the existing benchmark pay of most qualification groups and the upper quartile level of market pay were insignificant.
The commission recommended adopting a holistic approach, considering factors including the policy objective to maintain a "broad comparability" between civil service and private sector pay, the inherent differences between the civil service and the private sector and their uniqueness, the nature of the survey, civil service pay's attractiveness and stability, the inherent discrepancies in statistical surveys and the elements of chance, and wider community interests.
Under this holistic approach, the commission recommended that the starting salaries of all civilian civil service grades should remain unchanged. Having reviewed the survey findings, the committee also recommended no change to the disciplined services' starting salaries.
Considering the significant difference between the benchmark pay of degree and related grades and the upper quartile level of market pay, and that this qualification group's market starting pay has consistently recorded a relatively large dispersion and a low growth rate, the council agreed that a specific study should be conducted to understand its distinctive features and characteristics to better prepare for the survey's next round.
