Govt's MPF Plan Is Full Of Holes, Says Lo Wai-kwok

Legislator and chairman of the Business and Professionals Alliance Lo Wai-kwok said on Thursday that he has warned the government not to go ahead with its plan to scrap the MPF off-setting mechanism unless a consensus is reached among the business sector.

Lo was speaking to reporters after meeting Labour and Welfare Secretary Law Chi-kwong to discuss the government's plan to stop companies from dipping into their employees' MPF accounts to fund severance and long-service payments.

The administration is offering to set aside HK$17.2 billion to cushion the blow for businesses by subsidising such payments over a 12-year period.

But Lo said there are still far too many holes in the plan and officials have not addressed concerns on how companies will manage to afford the increased costs after the initial 12 years are up.

"Without a good answer on how that long-term liability problem can be resolved, I certainly will think if the government just want to do it their way, it will at the end of the day hurt the employer-employee relationship in Hong Kong and hurt the long-term viability of doing business in Hong Kong," Lo said.