A more stringent performance appraisal system for Hong Kong’s civil servants is needed to ensure that pay increases and rewards are tied properly to merit, the city’s civil service chief said on Saturday.

Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan made the statement after attending a radio program while responding to concerns that the current point scale salary structure does not adequately differentiate between high and low performers.

“For civil servants, we have an appraisal system, a system that assesses the performance levels of civil servants. We have observed that in some cases, the assessment is done in a more lenient than realistic way, and so we are now proposing to establish a more stringent appraisal system that reflects more accurately the performance of civil servants,” she said.

Under the city's long-standing system, civil servants typically receive an annual salary increment within their scale based on their satisfactory performance until they reach the maximum pay point.

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The incremental point system will also achieve its objective of rewarding only those who have performed well, “when we have a more realistic, more accurate assessment of civil service performance”, said the secretary for the civil service.

Elaborating on the reward and penalty assessment measures that will be implemented under the Heads of Department Accountability System (HDAS), she said, “I believe when the second-tier investigation has to be triggered when the Public Service Commission has to come into work to do the investigation, it must be something that the public is very concerned about.”

In such circumstances, the special administrative region government will disclose in an appropriate way the details of the case and the related findings, she added.

Pointing out that the investigation may involve personal data and privacy concerns in some cases, Yeung said the government will see to an appropriate way of disclosing details to the public. “But as always, we will be transparent, we will let the public be informed of matters that they are concerned about,” she added.

While delivering his 2025 Policy Address last month, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu proposed the Heads of Department Accountability System to ensure a strengthened accountability system for senior officials.

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The proposed HDAS will involve a two-tier investigation mechanism. While the first level is of a general nature and will be carried out by the department head concerned, tier II investigation will deal with serious problems and be carried out by an independent investigation panel, comprising standing members to be called upon to identify deficiencies and attribute responsibility to the appropriate parties.

Disciplinary action will include warnings, a salary freeze or pay cut, demotion or compulsory retirement or even dismissal.