'MPF Change Won't Affect Worker-employer Relations'

Commissioner for Labour Chris Sun has dismissed concerns that scrapping the MPF offsetting mechanism will harm worker-employer relationships.

Some lawmakers said they were worried that bosses might dismiss their workers before 2025 when they will no longer be able to make redundancy and long-service payments using their contributions to workers' MPF accounts.

But Sun said in an interview with RTHK on Friday that there would be no reason for employers to do this, as the abolition of the off-setting mechanism will not be retrospective.

"Firing existing workers will only make employers lose out more... The amount of redundancy and long-service payments incurred during their service prior to 2025 can still be offset. Firing existing workers and hiring new ones, whose service period will mostly be after the change, will mean [a large portion of] the payments cannot be offset," he said.

Sun also rejected the idea that some workers may try to get fired on purpose for the payments, saying they would rather stay on longer for a more substantial sum in future.

He said the mechanism should be cancelled in 2025 as expected, while preparations to set up a new MPF system are underway.

"The work of building the eMPF platform is going smoothly, and at the current rate we should be able to implement this [scrapping of the offsetting mechanism] and launch the eMPF platform together in 2025. If things change, we'll also think of a back-up plan."

The official said the government will promote and explain the change to both workers and employers in the next two or three years, adding that it is developing mini apps for calculating payments after the offsetting mechanism is abolished.

The authorities will soon consult people on the proposal of having bosses put an amount equivalent to one percent of their employees' salaries into a designated savings account for making the payments, Sun said.

He said the administration will also submit a 25-year subsidy plan totalling HK$33.2 billion for employers to Legco's finance committee.