Previously I have made a post which talked about the retirement scheme - Mandatory Provident Fund (in short term “MPF”) in Hong Kong. And I am so thankful that I have got a lot of comment and discussion on it. So, I would like to write one more post to talk a bit more on the special things or I should say malady for the MPF
我在早前分享了一個關於香港強積金的帖子，很高興得到很多不同的留言跟討論。所以我希望多寫一篇帖子去分享香港強積金的一些特別的地方，或者應該說弊病吧。
Besides the malady for “High maintenance fee, Low return" in the MPF, another biggest malady for MPF is the Offset Mechanism. What is offset mechanism? In the simplest word, which is the government allow the employer to use the employer’s contribution in you MPF account to offset the severance payment or the long service payment when the company closed.
強積金的弊病除了上一篇文章中提及過的 “收費高，回報低” 之外，另一個最大的弊病就是強積金對沖機制。什麼是強樍金對沖機制? 最簡單的解釋就是政府容許僱主在公司倒閉或是結業時，用上你強積金戶口中僱主的存款去支付他應該發給你的遣散費或長期服務金。
First, let’s have a look on the definition of the severance payment and long service payment in law. According to the Labour Law:
(1) Employee with not less than 24 months under a continuous contract would be qualified severance payment
(2) Employee with not less than 5 years under a continuous contract, if the employee is dismissed but : he is not summarily dismissed due to his serious misconduct or his dismissal is not by reason of redundancy; employment contract of a fixed term expires without being renewed; employee dies or resigns on ground of ill health would be qualified long service payment.
In 2017, the payment amount of severance payment and long service payment is equal to the last 2/3 of the employee month wages (max on 22,500), multiply the reckonable years of service (max on 390,000)
首先讓我們看一看法例中的遣散費跟長期服務金是甚麼，又如何計算，跟據《僱傭條例》:
(1) 於連續合約下，受僱不少於24個月而被裁員或解僱的僱員，有權獲得遣散費；
(2) 對於在連續合約下，已受僱不少於5年的僱員而言，倘其死亡或因健康欠佳而辭職，或於固定期限僱傭合約到期後未予續約，或被終止僱用（被即時解僱或因裁員或停工而被解僱者除外），均有權獲得長期服務金。
於2017年，就遣散費及長期服務金的應付金額，相等於最後一個月工資（上限為港幣22,500元）的三分之二，乘以可計算的服務年資（上限為港幣390,000元）。
And let me give an example to you guys. Assume Mr. Chan is 45 years old, and have worked for a factory for 10 years, the factory finally decided to close down, and his monthly salary at that time is 18,000 HKD). And the MPF account balance as follow:
讓我提供一個例子給大家吧，假設陳先生45歲，在一間工廠中工作了10年，工廠最後倒閉了，他那時候的月薪為18,000 HKD。強積金戶口的結餘如下:
| 項目 (Item) | 僱主供款(Employer Contribution) | 僱員供款(Employee Contribution) |
|---|---|---|
| 強制性供款(Mandatory Contribution) | 100,000 | 100,000 |
| 強積金總結餘(MPF Balance) | ===> | 200,000 |
And Mr. Chan should entitled the severance payment of 18,000 x 2/3 x 10 = 120,000 HKD, but his employer can use the MPF account balance to settle the amount of 100,000 HKD. And the employer just need to really pay 20,000 for the severance payment. However, let’s look on the MPF balance for Mr. Chan now:
陳先生他理應得到的遣散費為18,000 x 2/3 x 10 = 120,000 HKD，但是僱主可以使用他的強樍金供款去支付當中的100,000 HKD，所以僱主只需要拿出20,000 HKD 就可 以了。但是讓我們看一看陳先生的強積金現在的結餘吧:
| 項目 (Item) | 僱主供款(Employer Contribution) | 僱員供款(Employee Contribution) |
|---|---|---|
| 強制性供款(Mandatory Contribution) | 0 | 100,000 |
| 強積金總結餘(MPF Balance) | ===> | 100,000 |
Because of the offset mechanism, the retirement fund of Mr. Chan has dropped by 100,000. It is not a small amount. So, will you guys feel kind of contradictory that the MPF should serve for the purpose of securing the citizen’s retirement life, but after it was used for severance payment, where can the citizen find their security? The offset mechanism have long be blamed by citizen, and our last Chief Executive, Leung Chun Ying have put Cancelling Offset Mechanism into his election platform in year 2012. And in last year, 2016, the draft of the cancelling program just established for advisory, but the Chief Executive just step down after that without doing anymore. And once after our new Chief Executive step on, she immediately announce that she will cancel the calling program…Is it a drama?..
因為強樍金對沖機制，陳先生的退休帳戶少了足足十萬元啊。大家聽到後有沒有覺得很矛盾? 強積金的意本來應該是用於市民退休之後的生活保障的，但要是被用來支付僱主的遣散費後，市民退休後的生活保障去那裏找?這個對沖方案一直被大部份市民所詬病，而我們的上一任特首梁振英在2012年曾經在他的競選政綱中提出過要取消這個方案，這個取消方案的草案在上一年(2016年)剛剛作出諮詢，他就草草的下台了。而我們新的特首剛剛上台，就宣佈要取消這個取消方案…這是什麼戲碼啦…
And I would like to give an additional information to you guys. From year 2000 to 2015, the Offset Mechanism have offset 31.8 Billions Hong Kong Dollar. I feel so sad for the citizen, they earn the money so hard, and wondering can they have enough for their retirement...
另外，多給一個資訊給大家，從2000年到2015年，強積金的對沖機制已經對沖走了318億港元。我真是很心痛市民的血汗錢...
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