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)