【公務員放取病假管理】《公務員事務規例》第1291條 (工傷賠償/指定診所/濫用/施加限制/因公受傷/職業病/不受規限/僱員補償條例/Management of Sick Leave in the CS, Civil Service Regulation, CSR 1291) ...... !

以下為今日（六月十三日）在立法會會議上，鄭家富議員的提問及公務員事務局局長俞宗怡就有效管理公務員放取病假的書面答覆：

問題：

有公務員向本人表示，儘管他們已獲判工傷賠償，政府當局仍根據《公務員事務規例》第１２９１條，要求他們如打算放取病假，必須向指定的政府診所或醫院管理局轄下的診所求診，而不接納其他醫生簽發的病假證明書。他們又指出，現時政府並沒有就施加該限制提供上訴途徑，此舉對受影響的公務員並不公平。就此，政府可否告知本會：

（一）去年被政府根據《公務員事務規例》第１２９１條施加上述限制的公務員數目；

（二）有否評估上述限制能否有效阻止公務員濫用病假的情況，以及對公務員施加該限制是否合理；及

（三）會否就上述條文的應用和執行制訂清晰的指引供管理人員遵從，並設立上訴機制，讓受影響的公務員作出申訴；若否，原因為何？

答覆：

主席女士：

《公務員事務規例》已就公務員病假管理（包括申請程序和防止濫用措施）作出規定。一般而言，公務員若能提供註冊醫生簽發的醫生證明書，便可獲准放取病假。如有迹象顯示公務員濫用病假，根據《公務員事務規例》第１２９１條，有關部門首長可要求該員每次打算放取病假時，向任何政府或醫院管理局（醫管局）醫生求診，或向某間指定的政府或醫管局診所求診。

有關因公受傷或患上職業病的病假申請，不受《公務員事務規例》第１２９１條所規限。有關人員只要提供符合《僱員補償條例》（第２８２章）的規定的醫生證明書，便可獲准放取與因公受傷或患上職業病有關的病假。

關於問題的第（一）部分，在二○○六年，受《公務員事務規例》第１２９１條規限的公務員共有二百九十九名。

至於問題的第（二）部分，我們認為《公務員事務規例》第１２９１條的規定，已在讓患病的公務員放取病假及防止公務員濫用病假兩者之間取得適當平衡。須予注意的是，援引《公務員事務規例》第１２９１條並非要禁止公務員放取病假。受《公務員事務規例》第１２９１條規限的公務員只要向指定的政府或醫管局診所求診，並獲發有效的病假證明書，便可繼續享有病假。公務員如在向指定的診所求診方面確有困難，可向有關的部門管方提出，由管方決定是否擴充指定診所的名單，或批准以其他安排例外處理。根據既定機制，有關的部門管方會每三個月檢討一次受《公務員事務規例》第１２９１條所規限的個案。部門管方如再沒有懷疑有關人員濫用病假，便會取消根據《公務員事務規例》第１２９１條向該員施加的規限。

至於問題的第（三）部分，為有效管理公務員放取病假，公務員事務局已向各局和部門發出闡述相關程序和措施(包括《公務員事務規例》第１２９１條)的指引，以供遵循。公務員如對須受《公務員事務規例》第１２９１條規限一事有疑問，應向有關的部門管方提出。此外，當局也有既定渠道，讓公務員可就人事管理事宜（包括《公務員事務規例》第１２９１條的應用）提出投訴，並由不同層級的管理人員處理。
完

２００７年６月１３日（星期三）
香港時間１５時２６分

Following is a question by the Hon Andrew Cheng and a written reply by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Miss Denise Yue, on effective management of sick leave in the civil service in the Legislative Council today (June 13):

Question:

Some civil servants have told me that, despite having been awarded compensation for work injuries, the Administration still required them, under Civil Service Regulation (CSR) 1291, to attend specified government clinics or clinics of the Hospital Authority when they wish to take sick leave, and the sick leave certificates issued by other medical practitioners are not accepted. They have also pointed out that at present the Government does not provide any channel for appeal against the imposition of the above restriction, which is unfair to the affected civil servants. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)  of the number of civil servants on whom the above restriction under CSR 1291 was imposed last year;

(b)  whether it has assessed if the above restriction can effectively prevent abuse of sick leave by civil servants, and whether it is reasonable to impose such a restriction on civil servants; and

(c)  whether it will formulate clear guidelines regarding the application and enforcement of the above provision for management staff to follow, and establish an appeal channel for the affected civil servants to seek redress; if not, of the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

The administration of sick leave for civil servants, including the application procedures and measures against abuse, is governed by the relevant Civil Service Regulations (CSR). Sick leave is generally granted to civil servants on production of medical certificates issued by registered medical practitioners. Where there are indications of abuse of sick leave by a civil servant, CSR 1291 provides that the Head of Department concerned may require the concerned civil servant to attend before a government or Hospital Authority (HA) doctor(s), or a particular government or HA clinic(s), on each occasion he wishes to take sick leave.  

Applications for sick leave related to injury on duty or occupational disease are not subject to the requirement under CSR 1291. Sick leave related to injury on duty or occupational disease will be granted to concerned civil servants so long as their applications are supported by medical certificates issued in accordance with the requirements laid down in the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap.282).

Turning to part (a) of the question, there were 299 civil servants subject to the requirement under CSR 1291 in 2006.

As regards part (b) of the question, we consider that the requirement under CSR 1291 strikes an appropriate balance between making sick leave available to civil servants who are sick on the one hand, and safeguarding against abuse of sick leave on the other hand. It is important to note that the CSR 1291 requirement is invoked not to deny sick leave to a civil servant. A civil servant subject to the CSR 1291 requirement continues to be entitled to sick leave provided he attends the designated government or HA clinic(s) and is issued with valid sick leave certificates. Where a civil servant has genuine difficulties in attending a designated clinic(s), he may approach the departmental management concerned, which would decide whether to expand the list of designated clinics or to approve some form of exceptional arrangement. Under the established mechanism, the departmental management concerned will review all civil servants subject to the CSR 1291 requirement on a quarterly basis. The departmental management concerned will lift the CSR 1291 requirement on a said civil servant when it is satisfied that there is no further concern of abuse by the civil servant.  

As for part(c) of the question, to facilitate the effective management of sick leave in the civil service, the Civil Service Bureau has issued to all bureaux/departments a set of guidelines on the relevant procedures and measures, including CSR 1291. If a civil servant has doubts about the reasons for his being subject to the requirement under CSR 1291, he should discuss the matter with the departmental management concerned. There are also established channels for civil servants to voice their complaints on staff-management related issues, including application of CSR 1291, and for different levels of management to deal with such complaints.
​
Ends/Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:25

https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200706/13/P200706130166.htm