Info Center

MPFA Chairman Mrs Ayesha Macpherson Lau published her blog post today (29 March), highlighting MPFA’s proposed introduction of a two-tier surcharge mechanism aimed at urging non-compliant employers to settle outstanding contributions and surcharges promptly, thereby enhancing protection of employees’ MPF rights.

MPFA proactively follows up on, and takes firm action against, suspected cases of default MPF contributions. This includes issuing “payment notices for MPF contributions and surcharges” (payment notices) to the employers concerned, requiring them to settle outstanding contributions and pay surcharges amounting to 5% of the outstanding sums, as prescribed by the legislation, within 14 days.   

As of February this year, the monthly average of mandatory MPF contributions for financial year (FY) 2025–26 amounted to about $5.5 billion. On average, MPFA issued approximately 31,000 payment notices a month to employers who failed to make MPF contributions on time. Only about 16% of non-compliant employers settled the outstanding contributions and surcharges within the 14-day deadline specified on the notices.

MPFA continues to proactively follow up on the remaining cases after the payment notice due date. According to past experience, about half of the non-compliant employers settle the outstanding contributions and surcharges within about four months after the contribution day. If non-compliant employers still do not settle the default contributions and surcharges, MPFA will take legal action by instituting civil proceedings in court on behalf of affected employees to recover the outstanding sums. More than 10 million dollars in contributions and surcharges remain unrecovered each year as they involve cases in which employers have been liquidated or become insolvent.

Mrs Lau pointed out that under the existing legislation, the surcharge for late payment is a flat rate of 5% regardless of the duration of the default contribution. Delays in settling the overdue contributions and surcharges undermine the interests of affected employees and are unfair to compliant employers. In view of this, MPFA has proposed the introduction of a two-tier surcharge mechanism. If a non-compliant employer does not settle the outstanding payments after a specified period of time, the proposed second-tier surcharge will be imposed. 

Mrs Lau added that all recovered contributions and surcharges will be credited in full to the MPF accounts of the affected employees. MPFA is going to consult stakeholders, including labour unions and chambers of commerce, to gather views on the proposed two-tier surcharge mechanism, including the appropriate timeframe for introducing the second-tier surcharge and the surcharge rate. MPFA aims to submit the consultation findings and specific recommendations to the Government before mid-2026, in preparation for the next stage of legislative work.

Mrs Lau also encouraged employees to register for the eMPF^TM Platform (eMPF) as soon as possible and to make use of eMPF to regularly check their employers’ contribution records to better safeguard their MPF rights.

For the full version of the article, please visit the MPFA blog. The blog is available in Chinese only.

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29 March 2026