Full houses at MPF workshops

The Chamber’s series of free workshops designed to inform businesses about the impending MPF scheme received an overwhelming response from participants.

"So many people were signing up that we had to schedule two more workshops," said Mrs Connie Kwok, General Manager, Chamber Services Limited. "So in just eight working days, we had eight workshops, and almost 400 participants attending."

Workshops were tailored to companies with or without existing ORSO schemes, and limited to a maximum of 50 participants per workshop.

Following a multimedia presentation outlining the mechanics of the scheme, participants asked questions during a Q&A session. They then discussed in small groups any questions they had with facilitators.

Raymond Lai, MPF Account Manager, Chamber Services Ltd., one of the facilitators at the workshops, said most people were unsure of the deadlines, and what procedures they needed to follow and when.

"They also wanted to know the obligations of the employer and employee. So this shows to us that there is obviously too little information being made available to companies to inform them of the MPF scheme," he said.

Also, many grey areas seemed to be causing confusion, especially the area classifying casual employees, which differs from the Labour Department’s definition.

David Yeung, MPF Account Manager, Chamber Services Ltd., who also acted as facilitator during the workshops, said that in the Labour Law, if an employee works for 18 hours or more per week, they are considered permanent staff. But in the MPF guidelines, there is no definition, except that they should have worked for an employer for not less than 60 days.

"So the number of hours they actually work is irrelevant," he said. "No matter they work one hour per day or eight hours, as long as they have worked for more than 60 days, then the employer must enrol them into an MPF scheme."

Other commonly raised questions were how the MPF would affect companies’ existing ORSO schemes, and tax implications.

Due to the complexities of the MPF scheme, most participants expressed a desire to attend future workshops.

"I think most participants liked the interactive workshops, because they were separated into groups of 8 with others in their industries – financial services, engineering, construction, trading companies, and so on – so each group was discussing specifics related to their business," Mr Lai said.

More workshops are planned for the coming months. For inquiries, call 2823 1273.

Detailed information on the MPF is available on the MPF Schemes Authority Web site at www.mpfahk.org.