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Making Voluntary Contributions

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Are CPF contributions payable on the amount that I’ve deducted from my employee’s wages due to lateness?

You may deduct your employee’s wages for being absent from work. However, the amount of deduction cannot exceed the period of absence. The authorised salary deductions are listed in the Employment Act.

CPF contribution are payable on the nett wages after deduction, i.e. CPF contributions are not payable on the amount deducted where your employee did not earn any wages as he was late for work.

The deduction should reduce the wages for the month in which your employee was late for work, and not the month where the deduction was made.

Example

Your employee was late for work on the last day of January, and the deduction of $30 was made only in February’s payroll. You should:

  • Pay CPF contributions on the full wages of $2,000 for February
  • Re-calculate the wages for January, i.e. pay CPF contributions on wages of $1,970 ($2,000-$30). If you have already paid CPF contributions on the full wages of $2,000 for January, you can refer to the process to apply for a refund.