Introduction

The Hong Kong Council of Social Service (hereafter the "HKCSS") has conducted the annual NGOs Salary Survey (hereafter the "Survey") for the social service sector since 2003. Overseen by an Advisory Committee composed of representatives and experts from the social service sector, the business sector and human resources management professionals, and conducted by an independent survey consultant, the Survey aims to provide the most updated reference to assist Non-governmental Organisations (hereafter the “NGOs”) in positioning their salary and benefit practices. Starting from 2016, NGOs Salary Survey has been conducted annually while NGOs Benefit Survey has been conducted biennially. NGOs Benefit Survey is not conducted this year.

In the past decades, the operating environment of the social service sector has kept on changing. The introduction of the Lump Sum Grant Subvention (hereafter the “LSG”) has transformed the resources management of the NGOs in the social service sector, especially in human resources management. NGOs have been given the freedom to manage their staff structures, staff-mixes and the levels of salary and benefit under the LSG funding mode. To facilitate NGOs in determining the levels of salary and benefit with flexibility to meet their organisational requirements, more relevant and timely reference on the salary and benefit policy and strategy of the sector should be made available.

The scopes of the Survey and salary data collected have been modified to cope with the changing environment and practices of the sector. Since 2018, the survey has covered the salary data of all full-time staff, disregarding their salary scales following the Master Pay Scale (MPS) or not. Only snapshot staff’s salary data have been excluded. Information on the salary grade structure with both starting and maximum salaries, and detailed salary data for the given 64 benchmarked positions are covered. Apart from the availability of salary data comparisons among large-, medium- and small-sized agencies, salary data comparisons between subvented and non-subvented agencies have also been included. As a result, salary data of social work positions and social service project positions have been collected in more details with the comparison between subvented and non-subvented posts. The enhancement has provided a clearer picture of the salary information of the benchmarked positions.

Objective and Scope of the Survey

The objectives of the Survey are to provide the most updated reference in the following areas:

• A summary of salary data on a set of benchmarked positions in different job families;
• Comparisons of salary levels in past years for each type of job positions;
• Comparisons of salary levels amongst large-, medium- and small-sized agencies, and subvented and non-subvented agencies;
• The average percentage of overall salary adjustment awarded to eligible staff in NGOs;
• Staff turnover data on a set of benchmarked positions in different job families;
• Comparisons of staff turnover level amongst large-, medium- and small-sized agencies, and subvented and non-subvented agencies;
• A summary of findings on human resources management practices amongst the NGOs.

In regard of the reference date of the salary data, “31 October” has been adopted, which is the same as the past surveys. Hence, the reference date in this report is “31 October 2020”. It covered 55,629 full-time staff in-post. A total of 64 benchmarked positions have been selected for the Survey.

Survey Methodology

The following methodology is deployed in this Survey.

1. Design of the Survey

The questionnaire and job descriptions for benchmarked positions are developed to:

• ensure adequate representations and fair interpretations of findings;
• collect empirical data and views from the Participants on their current practices in salary and benefit management; and
• identify the differences in salary and benefit management practices due to the heterogeneity of the Participants.

To facilitate the Participants to complete the questionnaire, the HKCSS handled enquiries on general and administration issues. Stat Solutions Co, as the survey consultant, was responsible for answering technical questions, conducting data analysis and maintaining all data provided by the Participants in total confidentiality throughout the entire process.

2. Data Collection

All Agency Members (492 Members as of 31 August 2020) were invited to participate in this Survey. A total of 133 Agency Members returned the questionnaires to Stat Solutions Co. directly.

3. Data Analysis and Report

Data was entered into an electronic file for tabulations and analysed by Stat Solutions Co. in a professional and strictly confidential manner. Necessary clarifications were made by Stat Solutions Co. to resolve potential data distortion to ensure completeness, accuracy, reliability and validity of the Survey. Only salary data with THREE OR ABOVE responses will be presented in the report.

Some percentages in the figures may not add up to a total of 100% because of decimal point rounding.

Profile of Participants

A total of 133 Agency Members (hereafter the “Respondents”) participated in the Survey this year, covering 55,629 full-time staff, which accounted for about 81.6% of the staff of Agency Members covered in the HKCSS membership database.

63 (or 47.4%) of the 133 Respondents reported that they employed 100 or more employees. 73 (54.9%) out of 133 Respondents were subvented agencies, with  76.7% of them employing 100 or more employees, covering 50,562 full-time staff. 60 (45.1%) out of 133 Respondents were non-subvented agencies, with a majority (88.3%) of them employing less than 100 employees, covering 1,426 full-time staff.

Analysis of Pay Management Practice

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