Officers have written 2,300 letters seeking to claw back a cut in wages ruled unconstitutional
Thousands of police officers are seeking back-pay amounting to tens of millions of dollars after a court ruled a pay cut imposed two years ago was unconstitutional.
Officials from the Treasury Department have confirmed that by Thursday they had received 2,300 letters - mostly from police officers - demanding the reinstatement of wages, plus interest.
The Public Officers' Pay Adjustment Ordinance forced pay cuts in 2002 of 1.58 per cent to 4.42 per cent for 170,000 civil servants. The government has also, with employee representatives' agreement and under a separate ordinance, cut civil servants' pay by 3 per cent this year and will impose a further 3 per cent cut next year.
The Court of Appeal ruled the 2002 ordinance unconstitutional on November 29. The government has obtained leave to appeal against the ruling at the Court of Final Appeal.
Since the November ruling, police officers have been addressing claims to the Treasury for repayment.
