SINGAPORE — About S$378.2 million in Central Provident Fund contributions owed to more than 288,000 employees was recovered from employers last year, the CPF Board said yesterday.
The number of errant employers hauled to court also rose slightly — 223 were convicted for late payment, from 202 cases in 2013. Last year also saw 46 convictions for non-payment and underpayment of CPF, compared to 41 cases in 2013.
All the convicted employers were fined and ordered to pay the CPF arrears by the State Courts.
Of the S$378.2 million recovered, S$14.0 million was for cases of underpayment or non-payment. The arrears were recovered from about 2,000 employers in industries such as security, cleaning and food and beverage, and benefited more than 9,300 employees.
The remaining S$364.2 million recovered came from an average of 4,300 employers who were late in making monthly CPF contributions last year. More than 279,000 workers benefited from the recovery.
One of the largest sums of CPF arrears recovered last year was from a beauty services company. Between 2012 and 2013, 11 employees of the company had complained to the CPF Board that their employer had underpaid on their monthly CPF contributions. Following investigations, the board recovered more than S$770,000 in CPF arrears, benefiting about 100 employees in the company.
The general penalties for non-compliance with the CPF Act were raised from January last year.
news source & image credits: todayonline.com
