The Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries & Conditions of Service has recommended a moderated reduction of two pay points in respect of the benchmark for the degree and related grades to Master Pay Scale 14, that is, $19,835.

In a report on the Civil Service Starting Salaries Survey 2009 submitted to the Chief Executive today, the commission also proposed the starting salaries for grades with internal relativity with the degree and related grades should be correspondingly reduced. However, existing staff should not be affected by the changes and the benchmarks for other grades should remain unchanged.

The Civil Service Bureau said it will conduct a one-month consultation on the commission's recommendations with the parties concerned before deciding the way forward. It will submit its views to the Chief Executive-in-Council for decision, and will seek the Legislative Council Establishment Subcommittee's endorsement and the Finance Committee's approval in the event of any change to any civil service basic rank's entry pay.

Under an improved civil service pay adjustment mechanism, a starting salaries survey will be conducted every three years to keep track of the movement in private-sector pay more regularly and make changes to the civil service benchmark whenever circumstances warrant.

The 2009 survey uses April 1 as the reference date and covers private sector pay for entry-level jobs with staff recruited between April 2, 2008, to April 1 last year for comparison with the benchmark pay of civil servants with similar entry requirements. Click here for the report.