General Q & A Who will be covered by MPF? Generally speaking, all employees and self-employed persons between the ages of 18 and 65, unless specifically exempt under the MPF Ordinance or unless employed for less than 60 days are required to join an MPF scheme. Is anybody exempted? The following will be exempt: persons aged 64 or above at the commencement of the exemption provision. members of a retirement scheme outside Hong Kong or persons who have entered Hong Kong to work for less than 13 months. civil servants, judicial officers and teachers in subsidized or grant schools who are already covered by statutory pension or provident fund schemes. domestic helpers. self-employed hawkers. members of occupational retirement schemes (ORS) for which MPF exemption has been granted. persons employed in the European Union Office of the European Commission in Hong Kong. Mini MPF Dictionary Relevant Income Relevant income includes any wages, salary, leave pay, fee, commission, bonus, gratuity and allowance(excluding housing). There are minimum and maximum levels for relevant income: Minimum: HK$5,000 per month (employees and self-employed persons earning below this level are not required to contribute, but employers will have to contribute in respect of their employees regardless); Maximum: HK$20,000 per month (no mandatory contributions are required in respect of any excess) Immediate Vesting Mandatory contributions paid by the employer, employee and self-employed are fully and immediately vested with the member as accrued benefits. Preservation Accrued benefits in respect of mandatory contributions will be preserved, and become payable in the events including when a member: reaches the retirement age of 65 reaches the age of 60 and retires early permanently departs from Hong Kong (only once in a lifetime) becomes totally incapacitated dies has small balance account with accrued benefits of not exceeding HK$5,000 ?providing that he/she has not made mandatory contributions to a scheme for the last 12 months and he or she does not have accrued benefits in other scheme Portability When the member ceases employment, irrespective of his/ her length of service with the employer, he / she needs to make a decision (except in certain situations as specified by the MPF Ordinance and the MPF Regulation from time to time) on the accrued benefits derived from mandatory contributions as to whether to retain the accrued benefits in the master trust scheme he/she is participating; or transfer the accrued benefits to another scheme, e.g. the new employer's scheme; or transfer the accrued benefits to an account in another master trust scheme of his / her own choice Mandatory contributions Both employers and employees will have to pay a minimum contribution of 5% of relevant income to an MPF scheme. Voluntary contributions Employers, employees and self-employed persons may choose to contribute voluntarily in addition to mandatory contributions. Employers are also able to set their own rules governing the employer voluntary contributions. The immediate vesting, portability and preservation rules of the MPF Ordinance need not apply to voluntary contributions. MPFA The MPFA has been established to regulate the MPF system and to ensure that trustees comply with the legislative requirements. The MPFA may also conduct field inspections, special audits and investigations, and may impose sanctions on trustees that breach legislative requirements.