HONG KONG

Contract staff scheme abused

Unions in Hong Kong have called on the Government to start giving “proper staff jobs” to the thousands of Public Servants employed “for years on cheap contracts designed for temporary workers”.
   The Hong Kong Chinese Civil Servants’ Association claimed around 14,000 staff were currently employed on non-civil service contracts, with about 4,700 having served for over five years.
   Vice-President of the Association, Li Kwai-yin said the Government was abusing non-civil service contracts and they should hand out proper staff contracts instead.
   “Priority should be given to those who have been dealt a series of short-term contracts,” Ms Li said.
   “When this scheme was introduced in 1999, the Civil Service Bureau promised it was only for jobs that are short-term and seasonal in nature.
   “But since then various government departments have abused the scheme and continued to hire staff on short-term contracts on a long-term basis.”
   She said representatives from more than 20 unions were calling for changes to the practice which saw staff on non-civil service contracts paid less for doing the same work as those on proper staff contracts.
   She said they were also missing out on medical and travel benefits.
   Secretary for the Civil Service, Paul Tang Kwok-wai said decisions as to what contracts were offered lay in the hands of each department and hiring staff.
   “The departments have their own criteria,” Mr Tang said.

Hong Kong, 22 January 2013
Edition 346, 29 January 2013
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