Editorial | Shake-up of sackings mechanism for Hong Kong civil servants long overdue
- Days of city government jobs being secure as an ‘iron rice bowl’ are long since over and those who fail to perform must be quickly dealt with
Much has been said about the need to stem the civil service brain drain after departures hit new highs in recent years. Just as important is the need to speed up the removal of bad apples, the current process of doing so being notoriously long and bureaucratic.
The perception of government jobs being as secure as an unbreakable “iron rice bowl” does nothing for the management and image of a modern administration.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has said officers with potential who perform well will be given more training and advancement opportunities. But those of a persistently substandard performance, despite having received supervision and help, should be terminated in a timely manner.
The carrot-and-stick approach makes sense, although more details are yet to be fleshed out.
The latest proposals to streamline the sackings mechanism are part of a series of reforms to keep the civil service abreast of the times. They include enabling employees under observation and assessment to make representations only twice, instead of four at present, with any pay rise also suspended or deferred.
To reduce delays, the observation period may only be extended once for specific reasons. The measure allowing an independent panel review will also be dropped.