Frequently Asked Questions

• Benefits under the Social Security System
  • What kinds of benefits are included in the Social Security System?

    The benefits include old-age pension, disability pension, unemployment allowance, sickness allowance, marriage allowance, birth allowance, funeral allowance and compensation for occupational respiratory disease.  For the eligibility requirements and the ways to apply, please refer to the Administrative Procedures Guide on the Social Security Fund’s website.

  • How to calculate the amount that I can receive for old-age pension? Under what circumstances can I receive the full pension?
    • Beneficiaries enrolled after the entry into force of Law No. 4/2010 in 2011 (new system beneficiaries): As long as the beneficiary’s contribution period reaches at least 60 months and other statutory requirements are met, the beneficiary may apply for old-age pension and the amount is calculated according to the formula － Maximum amount of old-age pension x the number of actual contribution months/360.  After the beneficiary starts to receive the old-age pension, he or she may continue to make contributions in order to increase the amount that he or she can receive year by year until the actual number of contribution months reaches 360 months, and then the beneficiary can receive the full pension.

     

    • Beneficiaries enrolled before the entry into force of Law No. 4/2010 (old system beneficiaries): According to the old system (Decree-law No. 58/93/M), as long as the beneficiary’s contribution period is at least 60 months and other statutory requirements are met, the beneficiary may apply for old-age pension and receive the full pension.

     

    • Whether under the new or the old system, if the beneficiary applies for early old-age pension, the amount received must also be calculated based on the percentage corresponding to the age, and the relevant percentage will remain unchanged until the beneficiary reaches 80 years of age.
  • Can I apply for other allowances after I start to receive old-age pension?

    Yes, you can, but because according to the law, the payment of old-age pension, disability pension, unemployment allowance and sickness allowance cannot overlap each other.  Therefore, the Social Security Fund will inform the beneficiary about the more favourable benefit and make the payment according to the beneficiary’s choice.

  • How does the Social Security Fund evaluate whether a disability pension applicant is in a disability status?

    The applicant must be evaluated by a doctor of the Social Security Fund’s medical board, and the beneficiary’s disability must be certified by the medical board (According to Law No. 4/2010, a beneficiary is regarded as being disabled, in case of absolute and total incapacity or loss of earning capacity, whether temporarily or permanently, due to general disease, accident, occupational disease or occupational accident).

  • Who needs to provide the proof of life?

    Beneficiaries who are currently receiving old-age or disability pension must provide the proof of life every year in order to maintain the continuous payment of the relevant benefit.

  • Is there a deadline for submitting the applications for various allowances?

    Yes, there is.  The application deadlines for various allowances are as follows:

    - Marriage allowance: The application must be submitted within 60 days of the marriage date;

    - Birth allowance: The application must be submitted within 60 days of the birth date or adoption date of the child;

    - Unemployment allowance: The beneficiary may apply from the date of registration with the Labour Affairs Bureau until 30 days after the end of unemployment.  If the beneficiary’s unemployment period exceeds the maximum period for which the beneficiary is entitled to receive the allowance (90 days), the application must be submitted no later than 30 days after the end of the said period;

    - Sickness allowance: The beneficiary may apply from the day following the onset of illness until 30 days after the termination of illness.  If the beneficiary’s illness exceeds the maximum period for which the beneficiary is entitled to receive the allowance, the application must be submitted no later than 30 days after the end of the said period;

    - Funeral allowance: The application must be submitted within one year from the date of the beneficiary’s death.

  • Do all benefits require the beneficiary to apply in person at a service point of the Social Security Fund?

    You may apply for all benefits at a service point of the Social Security Fund.  Among them, the marriage, birth and funeral allowances can also be applied by logging in to the Social Security Fund’s electronic service platform (https://eservice.fss.gov.mo/personal/) or “My Government Account of Macao SAR” mobile application, using "My Government Account of Macao SAR".  For details, please refer to the Administrative Procedures Guide on the Social Security Fund’s website.

  • For the purpose of applying for sickness allowance, can a medical certificate issued outside Macao be accepted?

    No, the medical certificate submitted must be issued by a medical practitioner registered with the Macao SAR Health Bureau, a medical practitioner of a hospital or a health centre in Macao.

  • Am I entitled to the marriage or birth allowance if I get married outside Macao or if my child is born outside Macao?

    Yes, but a photocopy of the marriage or birth certificate must be submitted (the original must be presented for verification).

     

  • How to define involuntary unemployment?  Can I apply for unemployment allowance if I leave my job voluntarily?

    One of the requirements for applying for unemployment allowance is that the applicant must be involuntarily unemployed.  If the labour contract is terminated due to the following reasons and the applicant is not engaged in any gainful activity, the person will then be deemed to be in an involuntary unemployment situation:

     

    1. The employer terminates the labour contract;
    2. The employee terminates the labour contract with reasonable grounds;
    3. The labour contract is invalid;
    4. The labour contract is annulled because serving employees or departments are cut due to corporate reorganization;
    5. The employer terminates the contract during the probation period.
  • Can a public administration staff apply for social security benefits?

    Whether enrolled under the arbitrary or obligatory system, a public administration staff is not entitled to other social security benefits, except for old-age pension, when he or she is still providing actual service for the administrative authority or before he or she cancels his or her enrollment in the Provident Fund Scheme for civil service.

• Electronic Filing Service
  • What is the scope of services provided by the Electronic Filing Service?

    The scope of services includes Contributions of the Obligatory System (Long-Term Employee), Contributions of the Obligatory System (Casual Worker) and Employment Fee for Non-Resident Workers.

  • What services are available to an employer with the Electronic Filing System?

    Employers can now use the Electronic Filing System to report the employment information of employees who belong to the Obligatory System, enroll their local employees as beneficiaries, view and download the Contribution Payment Advice and the Local Employee List, view their staff’s employment information, the Record of Payment and the Payment List of Local Employees, apply for a Certificate of Employer's Contribution. If a non-resident worker is hired, the applicant may also view and download the Record of Payment, and the List of Non-Resident Workers required to Pay Employment Fee.

  • Who can use the Electronic Filing Service and how to apply for the service?

    Employers who have completed a valid employer registration can apply for the Electronic Filing Service. To apply for the service, the employer, the employer’s legal representative or authorized person can fill in the form “Activate/Suspend the Electronic Filing Service (Contributions of the Obligatory System)”, and submit the completed form, together with the documents required for the employer’s industry category to a service point of the FSS.

  • If an employer has hired local long-term employees, causal workers and non-resident workers, does he/she need to apply separately for the service?

    No. For employers who have been approved to use the Electronic Filing Service, three services will be provided for them at the same time － Contributions of the Obligatory System (Long-Term Employee), Contributions of the Obligatory System (Casual Worker) and Employment Fee for Non-Resident Workers.

  • How can I log in to the Electronic Filing System after being approved to use the Service?

    - Log in with the entity account of “My Government Account of Macao SAR”: After entering the Electronic Filing System with the Staff Login Number (Administrator), you may set up a master account using the account management function. The master account holder must log in to the System with the account name and password of his/her Staff Login Number.

    - Log in with the individual account of “My Government Account of Macao SAR”: Employers, who are commercial entrepreneur－natural person, freelance and specialized professional (e.g. doctor, lawyer) or start a business as an individual (e.g. market stall tenant), can assign a master account holder to log in to the System with the account name and password of “the individual account of My Government Account of Macao SAR”.

  • Who can become the master account holder and the sub-account holder?

    Under normal circumstances, the employer him/herself, the employer’s legal representative or the authorized person is the master account holder of the company. The master account can use the System’s function to add sub-account(s) on his/her own and allow the relevant personnel to assist with the processing of the employees’ contribution data.

  • How to add and cancel a master account?

    • Log in with the entity account of “My Government Account of Macao SAR”：
        After entering the Electronic Filing System with the Staff Login Number (Administrator), a master account can be set up using the account management function.

    • Log in with the individual account of “My Government Account of Macao SAR”:
        To add and cancel a master account holder, you may fill in the form “Electronic Filing Service (Contributions of the Obligatory System) To Add and Cancel a Master Account” and submit the completed form, together with a photocopy of the front and back of the new master account holder's ID card/a photocopy of his/her passport* to the FSS for applying to add and cancel a master account.
    (*The information submitted must be consistent with the information for applying the individual account of “My Government Account of Macao SAR”)

  • For employers using the Electronic Filing Service, when can they report their staff's employment information?

    For employers who have hired local long-term employees, they can report the employment information of their long-term employees between the first day of the employee’s working quarter and the 20th day of the contribution month that immediately follows;
    For employers who have hired local casual workers, they can report the casual worker’s number of working days between the first day of the employee’s working month and the 20th day of the month that immediately follows.

  • If an employer has hired an employee who has never enrolled as a beneficiary of the Social Security Fund, how should the employer enroll him/her as a beneficiary?

    The employer can fill out the electronic version of Form for Enrollment of Beneficiary (Local Employee) through the System and upload the electronic file of the employee’s scanned Macao SAR Resident ID Card (front and back) and declare that all the information on the form has been verified by the employee. Then, the beneficiary’s enrollment procedures are completed.

  • If a company has staff change of long-term employees within the quarter or if it has hired a casual worker in the month, how should the company complete the reporting procedures?

    Users can log in to the Electronic Filing System during the relevant reporting period and report the long-term employees’ employment information or the casual workers’ number of working days using the “Reporting Function”.
    After completing the data input of the staff’s employment information, the master account needs to “submit” the employee data to the Social Security Fund within the reporting period.

  • When will employers be able to view and download from the System the Electronic Filing－Payment Advice of Contributions of the Obligatory System (Long-Term Employee) and the Local Employee List?

    1) If the master account “submits” the data within the employee's working quarter, data can be viewed and downloaded between the 10th and the last day of the contribution month.
    2) If the master account “submits” the data between the first day and the 20th day of the contribution month, data can be viewed and downloaded from the day following the submission of data (as early as the 10th day of the contribution month) to the last day of the month.

  • When will employers be able to view and download from the System the Electronic Filing－Payment Advice of Contributions of the Obligatory System (Casual Worker) and the Local Employee List?

    1) If the master account “submits” the data between the first day of the employee's working month and the third day of the month that immediately follows, data can be viewed and downloaded between the 10th and the last day of the month of contribution.
    2) If the master account “submits” the data between the fourth and the 20th day of the month that immediately follows the employee’s working month, data can be viewed and downloaded from the day immediately following the submission of data (as early as the 10th day of the month that immediately follows the employee’s working month) to the last day of the month.

  • When will employers be able to view and download from the System the Electronic Filing－Payment Advice of Employment Fee for Non-Resident Workers and the List of Non-Resident Workers Required to Pay Employment Fee?

    Employers can view and download the data between the 10th and the last day of the payment month.

  • When is the deadline for payment of Electronic Filing－Contribution/Employment Fee Payment Advice?

    Contributions of the Obligatory System (Long-Term Employee) and Employment Fee for Non-Resident Workers: Pay on a quarterly basis. The contributions of long-term employees and employment fee for non-resident workers for the preceding quarter are paid in January, April, July and October; Contributions of the Obligatory System (Casual Worker): Contributions of the casual workers should be paid in the month that immediately follows the employee’s working month.

  • What are the payment channels available to the employer who use the Electronic Filing Service?

    For employers using the Electronic Filing Service, in addition to the service points of Social Security Fund, designated Public Services Centres and Stations under the Municipal Affairs Bureau*, payment counter of designated banks*, they can also make their payment through electronic payment channels such as the autopay, online banking*, ATMs of Jetco Network*and BOC EXPRESS*.
    * Applies only to employers who “submitted” their employee data within the following periods:
    (1) Long-term employee: The master account “submitted” the employee data during the long-term employee’s working quarter;
    (2) Fixed-term labour contract (Casual workers): The master account “submitted” the employee data between the first day of the casual worker’s working month and the third day of the month that immediately follows.

  • How can employers check the Record of Payment after making their payment through various payment channels?

    For employers who have paid their contributions in the contribution month, they will be able to view or download from the System information such as the Record of Payment and the Payment List of Local Employees, from the 10th day of the month that immediately follows the contribution month, and all the information will be kept in the System for six months starting from that date.