At about the same time last year, it was announced that every civil servant would be getting a mid-year AVC bonus of 0.45 month along with a lump sum payment of $200 for all civil servants. (AVC is the acronym for Annual Variable Component.) But that was last year. THIS year however, due to the “unprecedented economic crisis brought about by COVID-19”, the Public Service Division (PSD) has announced that civil servants will NOT be receiving any mid-year bonus. For the more senior civil servants, on top of not receiving any extra spending money, they will have to take a pay cut of half a month, 1 month, or even more. The more senior they are, the bigger the cut.

Public officers in superscale grades will take one-time salary cuts of either 0.5 or 1 month, with those in higher grades taking a bigger cut.

The just-announced pay cuts are in addition to the earlier 0.5-month pay cut taken by senior public...