The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) announced the launch of the Employer COVID-19 Assistance Programme (e-CAP) to support small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) affected by the COVID-19 global pandemic.  e-CAP allows eligible SMEs flexibility to choose to apply for a deferment and restructuring of the employer’s share of EPF contributions for the months of April, May and / or June 2020. The deferred contribution for the respective month of choice can then be settled over a maximum period of three months. SME employers must have 200 employees or less on payroll.

As an example, for SMEs who chooses to apply to defer their April contributions, their restructured payments will start from July 2020 up to a maximum of 3 months ending September 2020. For those applying for May, the restructured payments for that month will start from August to October 2020 while for those applying for June, their restructured payments will start from September 2020 to November 2020. The e-CAP can be applied via i-Akaun (Employer) from 23rd April 2020.

SMEs who are interested in having their contributions deferred and restructured for two or three months should also take note that they must ensure their application for the previous month is approved before they can submit a new application.  A set of the e-CAP FAQ is available click here.