Lawmakers acknowledge difficulties in hiring AL staff

Lawmakers acknowledge difficulties in hiring AL staff

Lawmaker Chan Chak Mo, president of the Legislative Assembly 2nd Standing Committee, acknowledges that it will be difficult to hire more staff as additional vacancies will open once amendments to the AL’s Organizational Set Up Law pass its second reading.
The committee’s lawmakers are discussing amendments to a law regulating the AL’s administrative, financial and technical support procedures. Changes to the existing law will allow the Legislative Assembly to hire more personnel to cope with the increasing workload.
Chan Chak Mo recalled that amendments have been tabled due not only to an increase in the AL’s work, but also an increase in the number of lawmakers and plenary meetings.
Amendments were also proposed to improve career enhancement inside the AL, since some have raised criticism over the difficulties of being promoted.
The bill now suggests the creation of two departments, namely a General Affairs Department and an IT and Publications Department.
Lawmakers acknowledged, however, that it will be difficult to hire more personnel to work at the Legislative Assembly. “We have been looking for a deputy secretary-general since 2008,” said Chan Chak Mo, adding that this position offers a competitive salary of about MOP70,000.
The lawmaker recognized that it is has been difficult to hire staff, as many residents choose to work for the private sector, which offers competitive salary packages. “We all know that we have a low unemployment rate and the government has to compete with the private sector [when recruiting] (…) But if we do not hire people, we might see current employees leave because there’s a lot of work to do,” he stressed.
Furthermore, he recalled that amendments to the law are intended to suppress the needs of the AL over the next ten years.
The AL needs more interpreters and translators, as well as legal officers, said Chan Chak Mo. Currently, there are 6 interpreter-translators, with an aim to have 15. The AL is also looking to increase the number of legal officers from 7 to 20.
Amendments to the law include increasing staff salaries, namely of those who have to be permanently on stand-by. Lawmakers agreed with this proposal, which will increase salaries by 33 points according to the AL’s Pay Scale. Chan Chak Mo said this measure addresses staff dealing with correspondence, and those who are permanently on stand-by.
However, he said lawmakers raised doubts regarding who exactly should be covered by this salary update, and they will be discussing the matter further.