The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority on Sunday proposed a new surcharge on employers who fail to settle outstanding MPF contributions.

Currently, the late-payment surcharge is a flat rate of five percent.

The authority said it issues over 30,000 payment notices each month to employers who miss MPF deadlines, and more than 80 percent still do not clear the arrears and surcharges within two weeks.

Writing on her blog, authority chairwoman Ayesha Macpherson Lau proposed a second-tier surcharge for employers who still don’t comply after payment notices are issued.

“Delays in settling the outstanding contributions and surcharge not only harm the rights of employees who are owed contributions, but are also unfair to law-abiding employers. In view of this, we propose introducing a second-tier surcharge,” she wrote.

Lau said all recovered contributions and surcharges would be paid in full into the affected employees’ MPF accounts.

The authority would consult stakeholders, including labour unions and chambers of commerce, on the proposed two-tier surcharge — covering the timeline for introducing the surcharge and its rate, she added.

The authority aims to submit its consultation findings and recommendations to the government before mid-2026, paving the way for the next stage of legislative work.


Edited by Tony Sabine