The Social Security Fund (abbreviated to FSS in Macao) reminds employers to pay contributions of the obligation system for their employees on time.  If the payment is late, the employer must pay a late payment interest and can be fined.  If an employee leaves the company, his or her employer must report to the FSS in time and stop paying contributions for the departing employee.  Otherwise, such improper payment may constitute an act of false reporting of a labour relationship.

January, April, July and October of each year are the contribution months of the FSS.  According to the law, all employers who establish a labour relationship with others must register as employer with the FSS within the contribution month that immediately follows the start of relationship, and pay contributions for their long-term employees for the preceding calendar quarter.  If the employer has hired a casual worker, he or she must pay contributions for the casual worker within the month that immediately follows the employee’s working month.  If the employer pays the contributions within 60 days after the statutory payment period, he or she will be required to pay the late payment interest; if the employer still does not make the payment after 60 days, he or she will be fined in addition to the late payment interest.

In addition, the FSS reminds employers that if an employee leaves, the employer must report to the FSS within the contribution month that immediately follows and stop paying contributions for the departing employee.  If an employer fails to report his or her employee’s employment information in an honest manner or continues to pay contributions after the employee leaves, this may constitute an act of false reporting of a labour relationship.  Besides the improperly paid contributions being cancelled, the employer involved can also be held criminally liable for this act.  If a beneficiary receives a social security benefit on the improper contributions, the amount that he or she has already received must also be returned in full.

The FSS also recommends beneficiaries to regularly check their social security contribution records to ensure that their employers pay contributions for them on time for the employment period and stop paying contributions for them immediately after their departure in order to protect their social security rights.  To check the contribution record, members of the public can either use the self-service machines printed with the label of FSS and set up at many districts of Macao, log in to the “Online Services” of the FSS website at www.fss.gov.mo, log in your “Acesso comum aos serviços públicos da RAEM” account or ePass account, or call the 24-hour interactive voice response hotline at 2823 8238.  If the contribution record is found abnormal, members of the public should immediately report to the FSS.

More information about the Social Security System can be found on the FSS website at www.fss.gov.mo, or you may call 2853 2850 during office hours for enquiries.