 |
|
 |
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
Current Control Regime for Directorate Civil Servants
| |
| 1. |
This section gives a brief account of the current control regime governing post-service outside work for directorate civil servants. |
|
| |
| |
| 2. |
The policy objective on post-service outside work control is to ensure that directorate civil servants on final leave or who have left the service will not take up any work outside the Government which may constitute a real or potential conflict of interest with their former government duties or cause negative public perception embarrassing the Government and undermining the image of the civil service, without at the same time unduly restricting the said individuals' right to pursue employment or other work after ceasing government service. |
|
| II. Statutory and Contractual Bases for Control |
 |
| III. Control Regime |
|
| |
| |
| 4. |
The following outlines the key control parameters under the current control regime - |
- directorate civil servants who wish to take up post-service outside work during their final leave period and/or within a specified sanitisation period and/or control period are required to seek prior permission from the Secretary for the Civil Service;
- directorate civil servants are normally not allowed to take up any outside work during the specified sanitisation period other than unpaid work with specified non-commercial organisations under blanket permission;
- directorate civil servants are not allowed to take up full-time paid work or work of a commercial nature during their final leave period, unless there are special considerations and there is no problem of dual identity; and
- the Secretary for the Civil Service may approve an application with or without conditions, e.g. additional sanitisation period or work restrictions , or may reject an application.
|
| |
|
| |
| 5. |
The Administration conducted a review on the control regime governing post-service outside work of directorate civil servants in 2005 and decided to tighten the control with effect from a forthcoming date (i.e. no retrospective effect). Accordingly, there are currently two sets of arrangement for directorate civil servants as follows – |
- Pre-January 2006 arrangement (the 'old arrangement') -- it applies to (i) directorate civil servants who ceased active service before 1 January 2006 and who have retired on pensionable terms; and (ii) directorate civil servants on agreement terms filling civil service posts pitched at Directorate Pay Scale D3 or above (or equivalent) whose last agreement with the Government was entered into before 1 January 2006; and
- Post-January 2006 arrangement (the 'new arrangement') -- it applies to (i) directorate civil servants on pensionable or new permanent terms who cease active service on or after 1 January 2006; and (ii) directorate civil servants on agreement terms whose last agreements, including renewals of agreement, were entered into on or after 1 January 2006.
|
| |
| 6. |
The 'new arrangement' is more stringent than the 'old arrangement'. For example, under the new arrangement, all directorate civil servants, irrespective of their terms of appointment and the circumstances of their leaving the civil service, are subject to control. The sanitisation and control periods are longer, and there are more restrictions on the taking up of outside work during final leave and on the scope of work, and greater transparency on taken-up outside work. Key elements of the 'old' and 'new' arrangements are set out here. |
|
| |
|
| |
| 7. |
Under the 'new arrangement', a case record on approved post-service outside work taken up by civil servants at Directorate Pay Scale 4 and above (or equivalent) will be placed on a register in the Civil Service Bureau for public inspection upon request. The basic information will be kept on the public register until the expiry of the concerned applicant's post-service control period or after he has notified the Civil Service Bureau of the cessation of the approved outside work, whichever happens earlier. |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| |
|
| 8. |
Within the policy objective stated above, the specific assessment criteria to be considered in each application from a directorate civil servant (and a former directorate civil servant) include – |
- whether the applicant, while in the civil service, had been involved in the formulation of any policy or decisions, the effects of which directly or specifically benefited or could directly or specifically benefit his own business or prospective employer;
- whether the applicant or his prospective employer might gain unfair advantage over competitors because of the applicant's access to sensitive information while in the civil service;
- whether the applicant, while in the civil service, had been involved in any contractual or legal dealings to which his prospective employer was a party;
- whether the proposed work would have any connection with the assignments/projects and/or regulatory/enforcement duties in which the applicant had been involved while in the civil service;
- whether the applicant's taking up of the proposed work would give rise to public suspicion of conflict of interest or other impropriety; and
- whether any aspects of the proposed work would cause embarrassment to the Government or bring disgrace to the civil service.
|
| |
|
| |
| |
|
| 9. |
The current control regime governing post-service outside work of directorate civil servants is promulgated through civil service regulations and circulars. These regulations and circulars also state that where there is a breach of the regime governing post-service outside work, the Secretary for the Civil Service may consider invoking either one or a combination of the following forms of sanction against the concerned individual - |
- pension suspension under the pension legislation for civil servants on pensionable terms;
- initiating civil action to seek an injunction or sue for damage (under contract law);
- withdrawal of approval;
- suspension of approval for a specified period;
- reporting of an incident to the relevant professional body where it concerns professional negligence/misconduct or may involve a possible breach of the code of conduct of the relevant profession;
- issue of a public statement of criticism;
- placing a warning/reprimand in a register for public inspection;
- issue of a reprimand letter which may be copied to the outside employer; and/or
- issue of a warning letter which may be copied to the outside employer.
|
| |
|
| |
[D] Processing Procedures
|
| |
| |
| 10. |
The relevant Permanent Secretary of Bureau, Head of Department and/or Head of Grade are required to provide assessments on an application received in accordance with the assessment criteria and other requirements laid down in the relevant Civil Service Bureau circulars and regulations. After collating all the assessments, the Civil Service Bureau will seek the advice of an independent Advisory Committee on Post-service Employment of Civil Servants before submitting a recommendation on each application to the Secretary for the Civil Service for decision. The Chief Executive and Principal Officials appointed under the Political Appointment System (other than the Secretary for the Civil Service) are not involved in the process. |
|
| |
NOTE:
Words importing one gender include the others.
|
|
|
 |
| |
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|