Employers fight move to abolish MPF offset provision

Employers are lobbying forcefully against the call by some lawmakers to abolish the offset provision in the Mandatory Provident Fund pension scheme which has saved companies more than HK$20 billion in the past 13 years, with critics of the offset saying it does not benefit ordinary employees.

The proposal is being debated in the Legislative Council tomorrow.

Democratic Party financial affairs spokesman Sin Chung-kai told the South China Morning Post his party strongly supported a law change before 2017 to abolish the offset to improve retirement protection for workers.

"The MPF is meant for retirement protection of the 2.4 million employees covered by the scheme. The offset system has caused employees to receive less, undermining the purpose of setting up the MPF," Sin said. "Calling for a law change would be an uphill battle but we have to start this battle soon as we have an ageing population."

He also said he hoped to see the government submit a bill this year to end the offset.

A government source told the Post that this was "the right time" to start a discussion but there was no guarantee of a quick change.