The Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association (Soppoa) aims to enhance the awareness of the coverage provided under the Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad (PSMB) Act 2001.

This was highlighted during a briefing conducted by Human Resources Development Corp (HRD Corp) on Wednesday which, among many points, made known the terms, conditions and the procedures to register with HRD Corp under the said Act.

“The expansion of PSMB Act 2001 has included additional sectors like palm oil, which took effect in March last year,” said Soppoa chief executive officer Dr Felix Moh in a statement yesterday.

The PSMB Act 2001 covers the provision for the imposition and collection of a human resources development levy for the purpose of promoting the training and development of employees, apprentices and trainees, for the registered employers through training grants.

Under the Act, an employer is defined as ‘any person who has entered into a contract of service to employ any other person as an employee including an agent, manager or factor of such first-mentioned person’.

“Therefore, for employers with 10 or more Malaysian employees, it is compulsory for them to register with HRD Corp, and they are liable to pay monthly levy charged at the rate of one per cent of the monthly wages of employees.

“However, employers with five to nine Malaysian employees are given the option to register with HRD Corp and should they choose to register, the monthly levy is charged at the rate of 0.5 per cent of the monthly wages of employees,” said Moh, adding that the registration must be done via HRD Corp’s website (hrdcorp.gov.my) by submitting a specified ‘Form 1’.

Moh said the levy collected by HRD Corp could be claimed by employers upon the completion of training, according to the ‘Enhanced Terms and Conditions for Allowable Cost Matrix’.

According to him, the nine focused-area courses that are developed with the aim of supporting government initiatives in nation-building are ‘Industry 4.0’, ‘Green Technology / Renewable Energy’, ‘Financial Technology’ (FinTech), ‘Smart Construction’, ‘Smart Farming’, ‘Aerospace’, ‘Blockchain’, ‘Micro-Credential’ and ‘Future Technology’.

“Employers can also opt for ‘Employer-Specific Courses’ that are not listed under these priority areas, and are typically conducted to meet the employers’ specific training requirements.

“Employers are advised to refer to the ‘Claim Helper’ on HRD Corp’s website with respect to the guidelines on submitting claims,” he elaborated.

In this regard, Moh called upon Soppoa members to look into HRD Corp’s other value propositions so that the registered employers could enjoy various training offerings in accordance to their business and industry needs.

“Beyond that, they should also be able to utilise the contributions and special funds made available by the government,” he added.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by LIM HOW PIM

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