Hard-working civil servants could receive a cash bonus of up to five per cent of their annual salary under a plan announced yesterday to give incentives for better government services.
The Pilot Scheme on Team-based Performance Rewards, to be launched around July, is the first experiment of its kind.
Teams of staff will be nominated by their departments to take part in competitions against other teams that perform similar duties. At the end of the year, performance will be assessed and those considered to be outstanding will be given the awards.
'For most staff, all they need to do is their own job, and make sure they do it properly. Then they will be assessed on what they have done to get the rewards,' said Duncan Pescod, Deputy Secretary for Civil Service.
Mr Pescod said the scheme would mainly target frontline and junior civil servants, who had less chance of getting promoted. But officials at director grade could also take part if their work was closely linked to a team.
The reward for the victors would not be more than five per cent of his or her annual salary - roughly half a month's pay. The cost of the scheme could not exceed 0.75 per cent of the total annual payroll of the department and no more than 15 per cent of employees in the department who took part in the scheme would get the reward.
