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MPF
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| 1. |
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How do I know my company has participated into a MPF scheme?
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Upon receipt and verified the required documents, the Trustee will send a Notice of Participation to inform the employer.
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| 2. |
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If my employees refuse to complete a Membership Enrolment Form for participating in an MPF Scheme, what should I do?
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To comply with the MPF legislation, you must enroll these employees in an MPF scheme by providing their personal and employment details to the Trustee. It is also advised that you clearly explain to your employees that you are obliged to enroll them into an MPF scheme and deduct the contributions from their salaries as required by the MPF legislation. Their contributions will be invested in the Default investment funds.
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| 3. |
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What is "contribution period"?
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Contribution period refers to each period for which you pay relevant income to the employees. For example, if the employment contract states that an employee's remuneration is calculated on a monthly basis, then the contribution period will cover a month.
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| 4. |
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Do directors who receive a director's fee need to enroll in an MPF scheme?
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It depends on whether they are employees of a company. If they are involved in the day-to-day operation or management of the company, like executive directors, they are considered as employees and thus are required to enroll in an MPF scheme. If those directors are not involved in the day-to-day operation or management of the company, they are not considered as employees and thus are not required to enroll in an MPF scheme.
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| 5. |
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When should I make contributions for each contribution period?
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Under the MPF Ordinance, you are required to make mandatory contributions for an employee not later than the Contribution Day i.e. within the 10th calendar day after the last day of a calendar month which the relevant contribution period ends.
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| 6. |
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What happens if I delay or am unable to settle the payment of mandatory contributions?
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If you still fail to make the payment by the relevant Contribution Day, the Trustee is required to report the case to the MPFA and the MPFA will issue a notice imposing a 5% contribution surcharge on the total contributions in arrears to your company.
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| 7. |
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How can I make an appeal for the contribution surcharge?
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If you believe that the contributions were made on time and information in your remittance statement was correct and complete, thus, the surcharge should not be imposed against you, you can file an objection with MPFA.
You should submit the completed "Contribution Surcharge Objection Form" ("Form") together with relevant document (if any) to the MPFA within 14 days after the date of the Payment Notice issued by the MPFA. The Form can be download from the MPFA's website www.mpfa.org.hk. The MPFA will notify you the results of objection after investigation.
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| 8. |
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What should I do if my employee ceases employment?
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When your employee ceases employment, you must notify the Trustee by providing a Notice of Termination together with the last contribution payment (if any) not later than 10 calendar days after the month in which the employee ceases employment.
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| 9. |
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If I have changed my company's address, what should I do?
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Please complete the Change of Employer Information Form which you can download from the "Form/Literature" session, and forward the completed form together with the required documents (e.g. a copy of new Business Registration Certificate) to the Trustee for processing.
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| 10. |
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If I have changed my company's name, what should I do?
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Please notify the Trustee in writing stating the effective date of change together with a copy of your Business Registration, Certificate of Incorporation (if any) and Certificate of Name Change.
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| 11. |
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What should I do if I need to change the authorised person for the MPF scheme?
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You should provide the Trustee with a written instruction to be signed by at least one of the existing authorised persons together with the signature specimen of the new authorised person. If you need to change the contact person for future correspondence as a result of this movement, please also complete a Change of Employer Information Form which you can download from the "Form/Literature" session, and forward the completed form to the Trustee for processing.
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| 12. |
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If my employee does not have an exact date of birth on a HKID Card, how does the Trustee determine the age of 65 for payment of benefits derived from mandatory contributions?
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Employee can provide evidence as to the month and/or day by using one of the following methods:
(i) using the birth date as shown on an official document (e.g. travel document or a statutory declaration of the scheme member's date of birth); or
(ii) using the day and month of the issue date of the HKID card of the member.
If the member has not provide evidence of his/her date of birth, the trustee would determine the age of scheme member by reference to the last date of the month (if the HKID card only shows the year and month of birth) or the last day of the year (if the HKID card only shows the year) as the member’s date of birth.
Please note that mandatory contributions should be made until the end of that month / year when the member reaches age 65.
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| 13. |
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How do I calculate a newly joined employee's 1st MPF contribution?
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The 1st contribution the Employer makes for a newly joined Employee should be backdated to the employee's 1st day of employment.
The 1st employee contribution paid by the Employee should be backdated to the 31st day of the employment. If the 31st day of employment falls within an incomplete contribution period, employee contribution for this incomplete contribution period will be waived.
For example, if an employee is employed on 15th March and the company's payroll cycle is monthly and ends at the month-end, the employer's 1st contribution will be started on 15th March and the member's 1st contribution will be started on 1st May.
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| 14. |
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Can I offset the Long Service Payment (LSP) / Severance Payment (SP) paid to an employee from the Employer’s contributions to a pension scheme?
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Yes, according to the Employment Ordinance and Section 12A of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance, you have the right to offset LSP/SP from accrued benefits derived from the employer's contributions. You can use the vested employer's contributions portion of the respective employee to offset the LSP/SP and the LSP/SP will be normally offset against employer’s voluntary contribution first before mandatory contribution. Normally you will first pay the LSP/SP to the respective employee and request the employee to acknowledge receipt of the LSP/ SP amount.
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| 15. |
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What are the documents required for the refund of the Long Service Payment (LSP) or Severance Payment (SP)?
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You must provide the Trustee with the following for further processing and the Trustee will issue a cheque to you for the respective offset amount: (i) Member's signed acknowledgement of receiving the LSP/SP from your company with the calculation of the LSP/SP amount stated; (ii) Notice of Termination and (iii) Last contribution payment (if any) for that particular member.
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| 16. |
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How do I know the estimated vested employer contribution balance of a particular member for offset the Long Services Payment/Severance Payment (LSP/SP) purpose under the scheme?
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You can request the trustee to provide you with the estimation of an employee’s balances attributable to employer’s contribution for offset the Long Service Payment / Severance Payment purpose under the scheme. You can obtain a relevant form from the “Form/Literature” section on our website.
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| 17. |
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How do I know whether the contribution that I paid has been processed or not?
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You can check the contribution details in our "Contribution Summary" webpage.
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| 18. |
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How do I know the asset size of my company's pension scheme?
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You can check such information in our "Scheme Balance" webpage.
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| 19. |
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For an expatriate whose visa has been extended resulting that his/her total continuous period of permission for employment in Hong Kong exceeds the 13-month exemption period, when should he/she enroll in the Master Trust?
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An exempted person will cease to be exempted if his/her work visa has been extended so that he/she has been allowed to stay in Hong Kong for more than 13 months; he/she ceases to be exempted on the 1st day after the 13-month work visa expires. He/she will still be entitled to 30 days' contribution holiday counted from the 1st day after the 13 months. Enrolment after 60 days still applies.
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| 20. |
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How are monthly contributions handled if the date of employment termination falls in the middle of the month and does not coincide with the end of the payroll cycle?
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The last contribution shall be calculated up to the last day of the employment. If the date of employment termination falls in the middle of the payroll cycle, the last contribution of the terminated member can be paid within 10 days after the payroll cycle. For example, if a member terminates employment on 10 April and the company's payroll cycle is monthly and ends at the month-end, the last contribution for that member can be paid by 10 May together with contributions of other employees. If part of the relevant income is payable after 10 April, say 3 May, the contribution due on 3 May can be paid by 10 June.
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| 21. |
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What items do I need to take into consideration when calculating the mandatory contributions?
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Relevant Income should be used for calculating the mandatory contribution which is defined as any wages, salary, leave pay, fee, commission, bonus, gratuity, perquisite or allowance, expressed in monetary terms, excluding severance payment or long service payment.
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| 22. |
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Do I need to include payment in lieu of notice as relevant income when I calculate the last contribution?
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No. Payment in lieu of notice is made as a compensation for employment termination rather than a consideration of services rendered. It is therefore not treated as relevant income for MPF purposes.
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| 23. |
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Who can be exempted from the MPF system?
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A person who belongs to any one of the following categories is exempted from joining MPF schemes:
(i) Employees who have reached age 65
(ii) Domestic employees
(iii) Self-employed hawkers
(iv) Employees covered by statutory pension and provident fund schemes, such as civil servants or grant school teachers
(v) People from overseas who enter Hong Kong for employment for less than 13 months, or who are covered by overseas retirement schemes
(vi) Employees of the European Union Office of the European Commission in Hong Kong
(vii) Members of occupational retirement schemes which are granted exemption certificates.
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| 24. |
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If my employee makes a claim on the ground of terminal illness, will the trustee notify me so that I can well prepare the long services payment / severance payment (LSP/SP) offset?
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Trustee will not take the initiative to notify the employer that an employee makes a claim of MPF benefits.
If you need to arrange the LSP/SP to the employee upon termination. You should contact the trustee as soon as you aware of that employee’s termination date, to check the employee’s account balance attributable to employer’s contributions for the arrangement of LSP/SP purpose. If employer chooses to pay the LSP/SP to employee and request the trustee to offset the payment afterwards, the employer may not able to get the paid amount back due to the account balance (full / partial) attribute to employer’s contribution have been withdrawn.
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| 25. |
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If my employee reached the age of 65 and makes a claim of MPF benefits by installment, will the trustee notify me so that I can well prepare the LSP/SP offset?
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Trustee will not take the initiative to notify the employer that an employee makes a claim of MPF benefits.
If you need to arrange the LSP/SP to the employee upon termination. You should contact the trustee as soon as you aware of that employee’s termination date, to check the employee’s account balance attributable to employer’s contributions for the arrangement of LSP/SP purpose. If employer chooses to pay the LSP/SP to employee and request the trustee to offset the payment afterwards, the employer may not able to get the paid amount back due to the account balance (full / partial) attribute to employer’s contribution have been withdrawn.
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