The Public Security Bureau of Jiangsu
Province has taken the lead in linking police retirement pensions
to performance and probity.
Now any Jiangsu police officer who breaks the law or infringes
the police discipline code can expect significant pension cuts on
top of any other punishment according to the law and disciplinary
code.
The new pension package is based on a mix of regular monthly and
annual credits. The annual component comes as a top-up in the form
of a premium payment linked to a performance rating for the
year.
The Public Security Bureau of Jiangsu Province has released
details. The “Provisional Rules on Police Officers Probity
Retirement Pension” bring in a rating system. Officers rated as
excellent can look forward to seeing 8,400 yuan a year credited to
their pension accounts. Those considered qualified can expect 7,200
yuan. However their colleagues rated as merely basically qualified
or unqualified will miss out on the annual premium and see their
accounts grow by just the basic 3,600 yuan for the year.
On retiring, the officer can access the funds accrued in the
pension account. But his or her disciplinary record can have quite
an impact on the amount.
A single disciplinary action leading to a service record marred
by either a “severe warning within the Party” or a “major
administrative fault” would lead to the top-up component accrued in
the account being cut to 80 percent of face value. The reduction
would be to 60 percent in the event of a second disciplinary
action.
An officer must remain in the service to benefit from the top-up
premiums. And what’s more any officer who leaves his or her
position without authorization or is expelled by the unit will get
no pension at all.
Jiangsu Provincial Police Chief Huang Ming described the new
pension system as a “good measure that will improve the total
reward package.” He went on to say, “Compared with other public
servants, police officers carry heavier workloads and are exposed
to greater risks but are less well remunerated. The financial
incentives inherent in a pension system based on performance and
probity can contribute to effective management. The system will
help eliminate underperformance.”
According to the Jiangsu Provincial Public Security Bureau,
officers in financial difficulties could opt not to join the
pension scheme. They could also apply for early access to the funds
in their account.
The estimates are that an officer who joins the service at age
22 and works through to normal retirement age could look forward to
some 100,000 to 300,000 yuan in retirement provision.
The pension scheme is reported as having met with a very
favorable response among police officers across Jiangsu Province.
All but one of the 783 officers at the provincial public security
bureau have applied to join the plan. The local public security
authorities are now following the lead of the provincial police
authority and are looking into the new pension plans.
(China.org.cn by Alex Xu, November 13, 2003)