Over 40% of Hong Kong civil service dismissals for misconduct in past 5 years linked to breach of Covid vaccine rules

Hong Kong Free Press

More than 40 per cent of Hong Kong civil servants dismissed over the past five years were sacked over not complying with the city’s vaccination requirements when Covid-19 rules were in place.

covid-19 coronavirus vaccine — Covid-19 vaccine. Photo; GovHK.

Out of the 50 dismissal cases as a result of misconduct, 21 were related to violating a policy requiring staff to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

From February 2022, at the height of Hong Kong’s fifth and most fatal wave of Covid-19, visitors and staff at government buildings and offices were required to meet specific vaccination requirements unless they had valid medical exemptions. The policy was later rolled out to restaurants and other businesses.

The rule was meant to “further speed up the strengthening of the protective barrier against the virus among civil servants so as to mitigate any impact on the government’s anti-epidemic effort,” authorities said at the time.

To encourage vaccinations, the government also gave civil servants an extra paid vacation day after receiving each jab.

Hong Kong Legislative Council. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

The Civil Service Bureau provided the dismissal figures in writing in response to lawmaker Chau Siu-chung, who raised the matter as part of initial questions asked by legislators ahead of Legislative Council meetings to discuss the budget for this financial year.

Officials from the Civil Service Bureau will address lawmakers on the questions in person at a meeting on Monday afternoon. Officials from the Department of Justice and Education Bureau are also expected to attend to answer questions directed at them.

‘Fairness and impartiality’

Among the 50 dismissal cases over misconduct, 20 were related to “unauthorised absence/unpunctuality.” Four were related to “misconduct bringing disrepute to the government.”

Separately, there were 74 dismissals due to criminal offences. Eighteen related to cases of shoplifting or theft, while 14 were in connection with sex-related offences.

In a February Legislative Council document, the Civil Service Bureau said the disciplinary mechanism ensures that “appropriate punishments are meted out to officers who have misconducted themselves under the principles of fairness and impartiality.”

Civil servants photographed at the Central Government Officers. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. — Civil servants at the Central Government Officers. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Civil servants suspected of misconduct are given a “fair hearing and sufficient opportunities” to defend themselves, the document added, with the accused allowed to present witnesses to give evidence in hearings, and engage legal representation.

The bureau also said that civil servants who were “aggrieved” by the formal disciplinary punishment could appeal or apply for a judicial review, which are court procedures where a judge examines the decision-making processes of administrative bodies.

On Thursday, a teacher who lost her job at a government secondary school over online comments about police during the 2019 protests challenged the Civil Service Bureau’s decision to dismiss her at the High Court. She was fired last July after authorities determined that her actions had negatively affected students and tarnished the government’s reputation.