Hong Kong’s gym chain Physical defaults on HK$3mn MPF contributions for 740 employees

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The MPFA has warned the company to rectify the outstanding payments as soon as possible or face a civil claim filed by the authority on behalf of the affected employees.

Hong Kong’s gym chain Physical Health Centre Hong Kong Limited has reportedly defaulted on the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) payments for its employees for June and July 2024, which involved a total of HK$3mn worth of MPF contributions and surcharges for 740 employees.

The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) has confirmed the incident with HRO, and stated that it received complaints from two Physical’s employees in July and August respectively.

The authority said it has been following up with Physical and requested the fitness centre to settle the outstanding payments as soon as possible. Otherwise, the MPFA will file a civil claim in court to recover mandatory contributions and surcharges in arrears on behalf of the affected employee.

The MPFA emphasised that it attaches great importance to proactively following up on suspected cases of employers defaulting on MPF contributions in arrears, and has established a mechanism to require trustees to report non-compliance every month.

According to the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes legislation, employers are required to enrol both their full-time and part-time employees aged 18 to 64 who have been employed for a continuous period of 60 days or more in an MPF scheme on time, and make mandatory contributions for employees to an MPF scheme at a regular interval according to the laws. It is an offence for an employer to default on MPF contributions and is liable to a maximum penalty of a HK$450,000 fine and imprisonment for four years.

HRO has reached out to Physical for a response.

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Image / Physical's website