17
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1992
"WHAT WE ARE RECOMMENDING IS THAT ALL EMPLOYEES IN FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT UNDER THE AGE OF 65 SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN A RETIREMENT PROTECTION SCHEME UNLESS THEY ARE SPECIFICALLY EXEMPTED.
"EMPLOYEES AGED 65 AND ABOVE, AND THEIR EMPLOYERS, COULD PARTICIPATE ON A VOLUNTARY BASIS.
"THOSE EXEMPTED WOULD INCLUDE EMPLOYEES ALREADY COVERED BY APPROVED, EXISTING SCHEMES AS LONG AS THESE OFFER BENEFITS AT LEAST EQUAL TO THOSE UNDER THE PROPOSED NEW SYSTEM."
NON-RESIDENTS WHO ARE WORKING TEMPORARILY IN HONG KONG ARE ALSO REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE RETIREMENT PROTECTION SYSTEM IF THEY ARE NOT ALREADY COVERED BY SIMILAR SCHEMES IN THEIR HOME COUNTRIES.
SUCH WORKERS WILL BE ABLE TO WITHDRAW THEIR ACCRUED RETIREMENT BENEFITS UPON THEIR PERMANENT DEPARTURE FROM HONG KONG.
AS REGARDS THE MINIMUM LEVEL OF CONTRIBUTION, THE WORKING GROUP RECOMMENDED THAT IT SHOULD BE SET AT 10 PER CENT OF BASIC SALARY.
THIS LEVEL OF CONTRIBUTION IS NECESSARY IF THE SYSTEM IS TO PRODUCE A LEVEL OF RETIREMENT BENEFIT THAT WOULD ENABLE THE RETIREE TO MAINTAIN A REASONABLE STANDARD OF LIVING, MR CHAN NOTED.
HE ADDED THAT A FIGURE HIGHER THAN THAT CAN BE ARRANGED BY AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EMPLOYER AND HIS EMPLOYEES.
MR CHAN SAID THE CONTRIBUTION MAY BE PAID EITHER BY THE EMPLOYER ALONE, OR PARTLY BY THE EMPLOYER AND PARTLY BY THE EMPLOYEE.
"WHERE AN EMPLOYEE'S CONTRIBUTION IS REQUIRED, THEN THIS SHOULD NOT EXCEED FIVE PER CENT OF HIS SALARY, OR FIVE PER CENT OF $15,000, WHICHEVER IS THE LESS, HE ADDED.
TT
IN THE CASE AN EMPLOYEE CHANGES JOB, THE WORKING GROUP RECOMMENDED THAT THE BENEFITS ARISING FROM THE MINIMUM LEVEL OF CONTRIBUTION MUST BE TRANSFERRED TO HIS NEW EMPLOYER, OR REMAIN FROZEN IN THE PREVIOUS EMPLOYER'S SCHEME, OR BE LOCKED IN A SEPARATE ACCOUNT INDEPENDENT OF BOTH EMPLOYERS.
"WITHDRAWAL OF BENEFITS EACH TIME AN EMPLOYEE CHANGES JOB WILL DEFEAT THE PURPOSE OF A RETIREMENT PROTECTION SYSTEM, MR CHAN SAID.
w
THE WORKING GROUP ALSO CONSIDERED THAT BENEFITS ARISING FROM THE STATUTORY MINIMUM CONTRIBUTION SHOULD NOT NORMALLY BE PAID OUT BEFORE THE AGE OF 65, EXCEPT IN SPECIFIC CASES.
HOWEVER, IF AN EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATES IN AN EXISTING OR NEW SCHEME WHICH ALLOWS FOR RETIREMENT BELOW THE AGE OF 65, HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO WITHDRAW, AT THAT EARLIEST AGE, THAT PART OF HIS RETIREMENT BENEFITS WHICH EXCEED THE BENEFITS DERIVED FROM THE MANDATORY MINIMUM CONTRIBUTION IN RESPECT OF SERVICE AFTER THE IMPLEMENTATION DATE OF THE SYSTEM.
/THE PAYMENT