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Minister says civil servants not in line for pay increase

It is not a good time for a pay raise for civil servants, nor is it feasible for high-level government officials to forsake their “special allowance funds” and year-end bonuses, even if they continue to receive low approval ratings, the country’s top manager of civil servants said.

Central Personnel Administration minister Chen Ching-hsiu (陳清秀), told the legislature’s Judiciary, Organic Laws and Statutes Committee yesterday morning that the time was not right to increase salaries for civil servants, taking into account the current economic situation.

However Chen said they would work toward making the pay system for civil servants more reasonable in the medium to long-term so government agencies could attract more talent and keep it in the civil sector.

‘DARK’

“I believe it is just the dark before the dawn,” he said.

Chen made the remarks in response to a question by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lii Ming-shing (李明星), who asked whether the administration was considering increasing the pay scale for civil servants.

KMT Legislator Liao Cheng-ching (廖正井) proposed that high-ranking central government officials relinquish their “special allowance funds” starting next month and forgo year-end bonuses if Cabinet approval ratings remain low. Liao asked Chen to make the proposal during the weekly Cabinet meeting.

SHAME

Liao argued that senior officials should “feel ashamed” for taking “special allowance funds.”

“When the public is struggling, how can government officials feel comfortable about taking the extra money?” Liao said.

Senior officials should also renounce their year-end bonuses, Liao said, if the approval rating of the Cabinet is lower than 50 percent at the end of the year.

Chen, however, said that he would not bring up the issue during the weekly Cabinet meeting.

Nor did he think it would be a good idea for senior officials to forfeit their “special allowance funds” because the funds were used for public relations purposes.

BONUSES

It would not be reasonable to ask government officials to give up their year-end bonuses, either, because civil servants are not well paid, compared with their counterparts in the private sector, he said.

“The public should give government officials more time to prove their worth,” he said. “It is more important to see civil servants do a good job than to cut their benefits.”
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