SINGAPORE - The Central Provident Fund Board has recovered about $387.2 million in CPF arrears from cases closed in 2014, benefiting more than 288,000 employees.
The board said on Tuesday that the arrears recovered were generally from underpayment, non-payment and late payment of CPF contributions by employers.
Some $14 million worth of arrears recovered was due to cases of underpayment or non-payment by 1,995 employers in industries such as security, cleaning and food and beverage.
The remaining $364.2 million was due to employers being late in making monthly CPF contributions. An average of 4,300 employers were late.
One of the largest sums of CPF arrears - more than $770,000 - was recovered from a beauty services company. Eleven employees approached the CPF Board between 2012 and 2013 to report that the company had underpaid.
Mr Ng Hock Keong, CPF Board group director of employer collections and enforcement, said: "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."
The general penalties for non-compliance with the CPF act were raised last year.
First-time offenders can be fined up to $5,000 and/or imprisoned for up to six months. Subsequent offenders may face fines of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 12 months.
