Those employers, who have not been paying workers their Central Provident Fund (CPF) entitlements but  now want to jump on the bandwagon to cash in on Workfare benefits, can do so without any worries.

The Government has reassured that it would not penalise such employers retrospectively, but instead "welcome them" into the system.

The Government will rather go after those employers who systematically default on contributions.

The average number of employers with outstanding CPF payments owed to their workers for at least two months, had fallen from 677 in 2004 to 549 last year. Those with high default rates typically come from the cleaning and security industries.

Defaulters have to factor in interest on their late contributions and those convicted also have to pay a court fine. - TODAY