EMILY TSANGemily.tsang@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 06 December, 2015, 3:00am
UPDATED : Sunday, 06 December, 2015, 2:59am
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung. Photo: Nora Tam
An upcoming six-month consultation on the city's retirement system will include discussion of whether to scrap a controversial offset mechanism, the secretary for labour and welfare said yesterday.
Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said the consultation paper would be published "around Christmas time", but stressed that it did not mean that the offset mechanism under the mandatory provident fund (MPF) system would be cancelled immediately.
"The Commission on Poverty thinks that the consultation should explore all discussion concerning retirement benefits," said Cheung. "Since the MPF's offset mechanism is the concern of many people, they feel it should be included."
"According to the promise of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in his election manifesto [three years ago], the aim is to gradually downshift the offsetting ratio," Cheung said.
Under the mechanism, employers are allowed to use their portion of contributions to the mandatory provident fund to offset severance and long-service payments for employees.
Unionists support abolition, while business groups oppose it.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1887380/offset-mechanism-feature-hong-kong-mpf-consultation
