The CPF Board (CPFB) has recovered about $516.0 million in CPF arrears in 2015, benefitting over 360,000 employees. The CPF arrears recovered were from underpayment, non-payment and late payment of CPF contributions by employers. The breakdown of the CPF arrears recovered can be found in the Annex.
Underpayment and non-payment of CPF contributions
Of the $516.0 million, $15.2 million were from cases of underpayment or non-payment which the CPFB had recovered from 1,840 employers. This benefitted 14,708 employees.
One of these cases, which had one of the highest amount of CPF arrears recovered, was uncovered through a complaint on non-payment of CPF contributions lodged by a driver from a logistics company.
The Board’s investigations showed that the company had wrongly classified its drivers under a contract for service and hence, did not pay them CPF contributions. After reviewing all relevant facts of the case, the Board concluded that the drivers were in fact working as employees of the company. The Board managed to recover about $2 million in CPF arrears over eight years for 70 drivers, helping them build up their CPF savings to meet their retirement, housing and healthcare needs.
Late payment of CPF contributions
The remaining $500.8 million recovered were late CPF contributions from an average of about 5,600 employers each month in 2015. Most of the late payments were recovered within a month. The Board’s timely detection and follow-up enforcement actions assisted more than 353,000 workers in receiving their due CPF.
CPFB Group Director of Employer Collections and Enforcement Mr Ng Hock Keong said, “To facilitate the timely payment of CPF contributions, we are constantly improving the payment process for employers. More than eight in ten employers are submitting their contributions to us electronically. Close to 90% of them use CPF e-Submit@web, which auto-computes the CPF contributions payable. We have also recently introduced the new CPF e-Submit@mobile to enable employers of small companies to submit their CPF contributions quickly and easily via their mobile devices.”
The Board piloted CPF e-Submit@mobile in the Google Play Store in end January 2016, and the application is available in the Apple App Store from April 2016. CPF e-Submit@mobile allows employers with ten or fewer employees to submit their CPF contributions on their mobile devices, with secure payment options via e-NETS or OCBC ATMs.
Convictions of non-compliance with CPF Act in 2015
There were 36 convictions for non-payment and underpayment of CPF, and 237 convictions for late payment last year. All convicted employers were fined and ordered to pay the CPF arrears by the State Court.
Employers are reminded of their CPF obligations to their local employees. Workers should also check their CPF accounts via the CPF website regularly to ensure that their employers have made the correct CPF contributions. To report non-payment or underpayment of CPF contributions, or non-compliance with the Employment Act, members of the public can call 1800-221-9922 or email mom_lrwd@mom.gov.sg. All information provided will be kept strictly confidential.
Public Enquiries
For more information, please visit www.cpf.gov.sg or call the CPF Call Centre at 1800-227-1188.