Singapore's CPF Board recovers about S$378.2 million in CPF arrears

Singapore's CPF Board (CPFB) has recovered about S$378.2 million in CPF arrears from underpayments, nonpayment and late payment of contributions by employers.

The CPFB said the recovery will benefit over 288,000 employees from cases closed in 2014.

Of the S$378.2 million, S$14 million were for cases of underpayment or non-payment which the CPFB had recovered from close to 2,000 employers in industries such as security, cleaning and food & beverage. This benefitted 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 CPF contributions each month in 2014. The timely detection and follow-up enforcement actions assisted more than 279,000 workers.

Ng Hock Keong, CPFB Group Director of Employer Collections and Enforcement said since the launch of the WorkRight campaign three years ago to raise awareness of workers' CPF rights, the board is seeing the fruits of its labour.

"There was a close to 50 per cent reduction in the number of non-compliant employers who did not pay or underpaid their employees' CPF contributions from cases closed in 2014,'' Mr Ng said.

From January 1, 2014, the general penalties for non-compliance with the CPF Act were raised.

First-time offenders may be fined up to S$5,000 and/or imprisoned for up to 6 months. Subsequent offenders may face fines of up to S$10,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 12 months.

There were 46 convictions for non-payment and underpayment of CPF, and 223 convictions for late payment last year. All convicted employers were fined and ordered to pay the CPF arrears by the State Court.