Oath-taking rules extended to Hong Kong government staff on non-civil service contracts; two district councillors ousted as new law takes effect
- Civil Service Bureau says that 11,000 or so of its full-time staff hired on those terms face dismissal if they do not meet the allegiance requirements
- A related law covering district councillors takes effect and immediately unseats two politicians, Tiffany Yuen and Lester Shum
Extended oath-taking rules will cover Hong Kong government staff on non-civil service contracts, hours after a related allegiance law took effect and resulted in the immediate disqualification of two opposition district councillors.
The Civil Service Bureau announced on Friday that more than 22,000 full-time and part-time staff hired on those contracts – who typically hold more casual roles – were now subject to the same allegiance requirements as the rest of its workforce, and faced losing their jobs if they refused.
The bureau said that those hired on non-civil service terms on or after July 1, 2020, would have three months to sign a declaration pledging to uphold the Basic Law – the city’s mini-constitution – and bear allegiance to Hong Kong.
The Hongkong Post, the Education Bureau and the Registration and Electoral Office have the largest number of staff on such contracts.
New hires on non-civil service terms would also be required to sign the declaration, a spokesman added, and refusal to do so could result in the termination of employment contracts.
“Negligence or refusal to duly sign and return the declaration by a non-civil service member of government staff reflects a refusal to comply with the requirement under Article 6 of the national security law,” the spokesman said.
