Lawmakers call to end civil servant pay freeze and reform increment system

As the public consultation for the upcoming fiscal budget progresses, a key focus is whether the government will continue the civil servant pay freeze implemented last year.

Prominent legislators Michael Tien Puk-sun of the Roundtable and Mark Chong Ho-fung have publicly advocated ending the freeze this year, pointing to emerging signs of economic recovery.

Tien argued that there is no justification for ongoing salary suppression, even with lingering fiscal deficits.

He warned that repeatedly requiring civil servants to shoulder the burden would severely damage morale.

Instead, he proposed adhering to established procedures, conducting the annual pay trend survey, and adjusting salaries based on stipulated factors, without incorporating any retroactive compensation for the previous freeze.

Chong echoed the call to thaw salaries after one year but emphasized that the deeper issue lies in the incremental pay jump mechanism, commonly known as the "point jump" system.

He criticized the current performance assessments as largely perfunctory, rendering the system ineffective in motivating staff to excel or improve public service quality. Such flaws, he added, also hinder efficient use of taxpayer money.

Chong stressed that reforming this system aligns with strong public sentiment, reiterating his group's longstanding position that only around 80 percent of civil servants should qualify for increments based on genuine performance merits, rather than granting them automatically regardless of individual contributions.