Do Employers Need to Enrol Employees from the Mainland in an MPF Scheme?

As long as you are in Hong Kong, you must have heard of MPF (Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes), which is a retirement protection policy. Except for exempt persons, employees who have reached the age of 18 to under 65 and have been continuously employed for 60 days or more will be enrolled in the MPF scheme within the first 60 days of employment.

In that case, the Mainlanders working in Hong Kong generally stay in Hong Kong for employment through working visa and IANG (Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates). Whether you need to make contributions, you need to know:

• Are you employed by a Hong Kong company and paid by them?
• Working visa: is the first work visa longer than 13 months? /IANG: the validity period of a student visa, together with the validity period of the subsequent IANG, exceeds 13 months in total?

If an employment contract is signed with a Hong Kong company and paid by them, and the first working visa in Hong Kong is more than 13 months / the validity period of the student visa plus the validity period of the first IANG exceeds 13 months, it is necessary to register for MPF. Employers must make arrangements for non-local employees to join the MPF scheme within 60 days of their employment.

According to the MPFA, people from overseas who enter Hong Kong for employment for not more than 13 months are exempt persons.

By the way, many mainlanders who work in Hong Kong are working in the insurance industry. The insurance industry is relatively special as it is related to the provision of services and income. Therefore, they are regarded as a self-employed person(SEP). If you are a SEP at least 18 but under 65 years of age, you have the legal obligation to enrol yourself into an MPF scheme.

If you are an employer, hire mainland people who meet the above conditions, you must remember to enrol them in MPF schemes within 60 days of their employment. The MPF function in Workstem, as long as new employees join the company, you will be automatically reminded to enrol them in MPF Schemes. In addition, exempt persons can also be added, and no employee will be left.

Note: An employer who fails to enrol his relevant employee in an MPF scheme is liable to a maximum fine of HK$350,000 and three years’ imprisonment.

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