The Chief Executive-in-Council today decided that the recommendations of the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries & Conditions of Service on the Civil Service Pay Level Survey (PLS) in Report No. 66 should be accepted in full, and that Stage 2 of the current PLS would not proceed.

Announcing the decision, the Government said the commission recommended earlier that Stage 2 of the current PLS should not proceed, in view of the severe and unprecedented turbulence in the labour market which had an impact on market pay practices and levels and in turn, the timeliness and accuracy of pay-related data to be collected in the private sector.

The commission also considered the effect of the talent and labour-trawling measures introduced in recent years to restore the stability of the labour market had yet to be observed, adding that reconvening another round of the PLS should be subject to a review of relevant circumstances, including the overall labour market conditions.

Noting that a number of talent-trawling measures were introduced for two years tentatively, the commission recommended the Government to revisit the conditions in a reasonable period of time for conducting a PLS.

The Civil Service Bureau said the Government accepted the commission’s recommendations in full after holistic consideration on its prudent and in-depth analysis and the valuable comments from various stakeholders.

The commission decided in 2020 to accept the Government's invitation to conduct a new round of the civil service pay level survey and adopted a two-stage approach.

Stage 1 of the PLS was disrupted by the pandemic and eventually completed in end-2023. The commission submitted Report No. 66 to the Chief Executive on February 6, 2024 to recommend whether and when to proceed with Stage 2.