Higher insured salary ceiling to benefit 1.45 mln workers - Sivakumar

KUALA LUMPUR - The increase in insured monthly salary ceiling from RM5,000 to RM6,000 will come into effect after the amendments to Employees Social Security Act 1969 (Act 4) and the Employment Insurance System (EIS) Act 2017 (Act 800).

Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar said the increase will benefit workers and their dependents if employees suffer a workplace accident, illness, disability, death or job loss.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, when tabling the Malaysia Madani Budget 2024 in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, said the increase would raise the cash benefits at a rate of 20.2 per cent for the benefit of 1.45 million workers and their dependents.

According to Sivakumar, the government allocated more than RM200 million to the Ministry of Human Resources (KSM) through the Social Security Organisation (Socso) in the Budget 2024 to strengthen the social protection network and drive the labour market, in line with the federal government’s structural reform agenda.

In the meantime, he said the policy of one per cent employment opportunity for the disabled, which will be extended to ex-convicts and the elderly, will be implemented in various ministries, government-linked investment companies (GLIC) and government-linked companies (GLC) as well as the government’s strategic partners.

According to him, the empowerment of the policy will be supported through the role of Socso employment service officers and MYFutureJobs, the national employment portal platform which is equipped with artificial intelligence capabilities.

He said this would ensure faster and more suitable job-matching, to shorten the waiting period for job placement for the groups.

Sivakumar said the implementation of the range of initiatives contained in the Budget 2024 under KSM through Socso will be improved from time to time to ensure effectiveness, in line with the federal government's aspiration to tighten governance. - BERNAMA