APPENDIX G

SUMMARY OF THE 1997/98 PAY TREND SURVEY

Purpose of the Survey

            Pay trend surveys provide information on the general movements of pay in the private sector over a given period. They are not concerned with comparison of pay levels for specific occupational groups. Prior to 1983, pay trend surveys were undertaken by the then Pay Investigation Unit under the auspices of a Steering Committee of the Senior Civil Service Council. The Pay Survey and Research Unit was established in December 1982 and the Pay Trend Survey Committee shortly after. The 1997/98 survey was the twenty-fifth of its kind.

Survey Period

2.        The Survey covered a 12-month period from 2 April 1997 to 1 April 1998.

Participating Companies

3.        Among the 77 companies included in the survey field as listed at the Annex, 69 took part in the survey. The pay data of their 124,292 employees were included in the calculation of the 1997/98 gross pay trend indicators.

Data Collection

4.        Between February and May 1998, staff of the Pay Survey and Research Unit visited the participating companies. They interviewed the personnel manager, the personnel officer or other members of management responsible for pay and collected information on increases in salary due to general pay increases, merit payments and inscale increments. Surveyed companies were also asked to provide information on payments additional to salary and, where available, adjustments attributable to internal and external relativities (i.e. adjustments due to changes in the market level of a job).

5.        In order to identify any variation in salary adjustments made to staff at different levels, company representatives were requested to provide information on salary adjustments according to three salary bands, namely: less than $14,330 per month, $14,330 - $43,940 per month and $43,941 - $87,430 per month. These bands related broadly to the civil service "non-Directorate" pay scales of Master Pay Scale below Point 10, Points 10 to 33, and above Point 33 respectively.

6.        Information collected for the survey was recorded in individual company statements, the accuracy of each was confirmed by the company concerned. Strict confidentiality was observed in the handling of company data which were released in survey reports in an anonymous form.

Survey Findings

7.        The Pay Survey and Research Unit analysed the company data in accordance with the agreed criteria and presented its findings to the Pay Trend Survey Committee in May 1998.

8.        The Pay Trend Survey Committee accepted the findings of the Unit on the 1997/98 Pay Trend Survey. The Committee also concluded that, taking into account only those adjustments which related to the cost of living, company performance, general changes in market rates, inscale increment and merit, there was evidence that the following pay increases had been awarded in the surveyed companies during the period 2 April 1997 to 1 April 1998 -