Saving for retirement as an OFW in Hong Kong

MPF: who is in and who is out

The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) lists “domestic employees” among the “exempt persons who are not required to join an MPF scheme”. It defines a domestic employee as one “whose contract of employment is wholly or substantially for the provision of domestic services in the residential premises of the employer”.

So if you are a foreign domestic helper working in your employer’s home, you have no MPF account and no Hong Kong pension. Your retirement money comes from SSS, Pag-IBIG and what you save yourself.

Filipinos in other jobs in Hong Kong are usually in the MPF. If you leave Hong Kong for good, the MPFA lets you take your MPF out early: you make a statutory declaration that you are leaving “to reside elsewhere with no intention of returning for employment or to resettle in Hong Kong as a permanent resident”, with proof that you may live elsewhere. You can only do this once.

Long service payment and severance payment

The Employment Ordinance gives two payments when a job ends. The Labour Department’s guide for helpers says they apply to helpers too, but a helper never gets both.

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Long service payment is due after at least 5 years’ continuous work with the employer if you:

• are dismissed, or your contract is not renewed, for a reason other than summary dismissal for serious misconduct or redundancy,
• resign because a registered doctor certifies you permanently unfit for the job,
• are 65 or over and resign on grounds of old age, or
• die in service (paid to your family).

If your employer offers in writing to renew your contract at least 7 days before it ends and you unreasonably refuse, you lose the payment.

The formula for both: last month’s wages x 2/3 x reckonable years of service, with an incomplete year counted pro rata. The monthly wage used is capped at HK$22,500, and the total at HK$390,000. Long service payment is due within seven days after the contract ends (Labour Department, Concise Guide, Chapter 11).

The 2025 change does not affect helpers. From 1 May 2025, employers can no longer use their MPF contributions to reduce severance and long service payments. The Labour Department says the old formula for the whole period still applies “where the employee is not covered by the MPF System”, and gives domestic helpers as the example. Helpers never had MPF to offset.

At the end of a two-year contract, the Standard Employment Contract (ID 407) gives a helper free return passage home and a daily food and travelling allowance of HK$100 for the journey. Either side ends it with one month’s notice in writing, or one month’s wages instead. From 3 October 2026, the minimum allowable wage for new contracts is HK$5,220 a month, with a food allowance of at least HK$1,236 if food is not provided (Hong Kong Government, 2 October 2026).

SSS, Pag-IBIG and PhilHealth from Hong Kong

SSS. As a land-based OFW you pay the whole contribution, 15% of a monthly salary credit of PHP 8,000 or more. Generate a payment reference number (PRN) in My.SSS, then pay online or at an SSS overseas partner (SSS land-based OFW page). SSS has an office in Hong Kong: Migrant Workers Office, 29/F United Centre, 95 Queensway, Admiralty; (852) 3595-5357 or 5358; hongkong@sss.gov.ph (SSS Citizen’s Charter 2026).

Pag-IBIG. Pag-IBIG lists an Overseas Service Desk in Hong Kong: c/o Migrant Workers Office, 29th floor, United Centre, 95 Queensway, Admiralty; (+852) 94524287 or (+852) 2823-8541; pophongkong@pagibigfund.gov.ph. Check its opening hours with the desk. You can also pay online through Virtual Pag-IBIG or GCash, or at partners Pag-IBIG lists for Hong Kong. Its current list is on its OFW page. See paying Pag-IBIG online.

PhilHealth. Under PhilHealth Advisory No. 2026-0042, a helper pays 5% of monthly income as a direct contributor, never less than PHP 500 a month. Remittance companies in Central and Admiralty are among PhilHealth’s overseas collecting agents, and you can also pay online. Its service desk at the Consulate closed in July 2011. See paying PhilHealth online.

A helper’s budget, as arithmetic

This is arithmetic, not advice. At the lowest SSS salary credit for OFWs and the smallest MP2 payment:

SSS at MSC PHP 8,000 (15%)

PHP 1,200.00

Pag-IBIG MP2, smallest payment

PHP 500.00

Together

PHP 1,700.00

In Hong Kong dollars (BSP rate, 20 Oct 2026: PHP 8.0392 per HKD)

about HK$211

That is about 4% of the HK$5,220 minimum allowable wage. PhilHealth (at least PHP 500 a month) and your regular Pag-IBIG savings come on top. MP2 needs a Pag-IBIG membership first, and its returns are not fixed. See the MP2 guide, the SSS guide for OFWs, and the OFW retirement calculator for what you would need at home. See how land-based OFWs pay SSS.

Where to get help in Hong Kong

• Migrant Workers Office (MWO) Hong Kong, Office No. 2, 29/F United Centre, 95 Queensway, Admiralty. Hotline (852) 5529-1880, or 6345-9324 for OWWA; mwo_hongkong@dmw.gov.ph (DMW directory, 5 January 2026). The MWO handles contract verification, OEC and OFW Pass matters, and welfare help. Going home on holiday? See Balik Manggagawa.
• Philippine Consulate General, 14th floor, United Centre, 95 Queensway, Admiralty; +852 2823 8500 or 9155 4023; hongkong.pcg@dfa.gov.ph (Consulate website, read 20 October 2026). Check the opening hours with the consulate, and check the post’s site or social media before visiting.
• Labour Department helper hotline, 2157 9537, for questions about your rights under the Employment Ordinance (Labour Department guide). In an emergency, call 999.
• Time. Hong Kong is on UTC+8 (Hong Kong Observatory), the same time as Manila, so calls home need no time difference.

Hong Kong dollars to pesos

Remittance agents in Hong Kong need a money service operator licence from the Customs and Excise Department, which has an online register search. Operating without one is an offence. Look the agent up before you send. Before you compare remittance agents, read sending money home.