MPF? Employee’s Rights
From our last blog, we shed lights on the MPF scheme from the employer’s perspective, oping to provide employer with a bit of guidance on how to calculate and join the MPF scheme. Employers are obligated to abide by the Constitution and register all suitable employees under the scheme. As employees, what are our rights and how can we be sure our MPF accounts and contributions are protected? As employers you should also pay attention to what are the rights of your employees and be aware of certain legislation responsibilities. Although MPF agents could help you to handle all of these trivial problems, but OneStart Business Centre believes that, no matter you are employees or employers, you should be aware of how MPF works to avoid being tricked by frauds.
l As employees, how would I know if my boss had registered me into the MPF scheme yet?
According to the Ordinance, employers have to enroll all non-casual employees within 60 days of your employment, and enroll all casual employees within 10 days of your employment. Even though you are enjoying your first 30 days of contribution holidays, your employer doesn’t have such exemption. Therefore, you have to be aware that since the first day of your employment, you employer should already be contributing to the employer’s mandatory contribution part.
After they have made their mandatory contribution, your employer should provide you with a monthly pay record, within 7 working days of remitting the employee’s mandatory contribution. If you didn’t receive any record, remember to ask your employer for one, and keep track on your own MPF account.
The monthly pay record must include the followings：
- Relevant income paid
- Employer contributions amount (Mandatory and Voluntary)
- Employee contributions amount (Mandatory and Voluntary)
- Date of Employer and Employee contribution payment
l If I only have HKD 3,000 a month, do I still need to pay for my contribution? There is no lower limit for employer contributions, how about employees’ part of mandatory contributions?
To ensure a stable income for employees, and to ensure that the MPF scheme would not bring adverse effects or extra burden to employee’s living, the government has set a minimum level of relevant monthly income for employee’s mandatory contribution. If your monthly income is lower than a daily of HKD 280, or a monthly of HKD 7,100, you would not need to contribute for your MPF that month.
Apart from a minimum level of monthly income set, the government had also set a maximum level of monthly income, at a level of daily HKD 1,000 and a monthly of HKD 30,000. This maximum level for the employee’s mandatory contributions is the same as that set for the employer’s part. Employees should check the payment record, to ensure your employers are not paying for your MPF wrongly.
l Can I decide the amount I am contributing to my MPF account?
Just like the employer’s mandatory contribution, there is a special rate designated by the government for calculation. In each month, 5% of your relevant income will be transferred towards your MPF account, with an MPF contribution cap of HKD 1,500. Apart from mandatory contribution, there is also a choice for voluntary contribution. You could choose to contribute more to your MPF account by joining the voluntary scheme.
l How should I pay for my MPF contributions? Do I have to handle it by myself?
Your MPF’s employee mandatory contributions will be calculated by your employer, and then be deducted from your salary before issuing your salary. Therefore, if Chris has a relevant income of HKD 30,000, the amount of salary he will be receiving would be HKD 28,500 after the deduction of a HKD 1,500 MPF contribution. After the deduction, your employer would have to send a cheque to the MPF agent, or pay through online billing.
l From the last blog, there are those people who are exempted from the scheme. Who are they exactly?
People that are exempted from the scheme would not have to enroll themselves or state any notice to the Bureau for the MPF scheme. Therefore, no matter you are the employer or the employee, both parties would not have to pay your contributions. Examples of exemption are as follows:
- Self-employed hawkers
- Members of the Occupational Retirement Schemes (ORSOs), for which exemption certificates have been rewarded
- Members of statutory pension or provident fund schemes (e.g. Civil Servant)
- Any person from overseas who enters Hong Kong for the purpose of being employed for less than 13 months, or member of an overseas retirement scheme
- Staff of the European Union Office of the European Commission in Hong Kong
OneStart Business Centre now offers you with professional MPF consultation service, we could help you to consolidate your MPF personal accounts. For other services that OneStart Business Centre can offer you, feel free to check out our website!
Interested in OneStart Business Centre’s insurance and MPF consulting services? Phone in to our hotline 3575 6888 or WhatsApp our helpful consultants!
