Some 935,000 employees in Sabah will be covered under the Employment Insurance System (EIS) that comes into effect in January next year.

Social Security Organization (Socso) Sabah director Dr Mohd Ali Hindia said employees who lost their jobs would qualify to receive interim benefit in the form of RM600 cash allowance per month for a maximum of three months under EIS next year.

He said the government had allocated RM122 million to Sosco for the interim benefit.

Mohd Ali said 57,282 individuals nationwide were expected to claim the benefit of more than RM103 million next year.

Meanwhile, he said 76,180 employers were registered in Sabah with 935,000 workers in total.

“These workers will automatically be qualified for EIS and pay their contributions.

“With the funds provided, we are ready to assist employees who lost their jobs,” he said in a press conference during the EIS seminar at Tabung Haji Hotel here yesterday.

EIS serves as a social safety net to assist retrenched workers through the provision of financial aid and re-employment placement programme.

Both employers and employees are required to contribute 0.2 per cent each of the latter’s salary to EIS.

Mohd Ali said workers who lost their jobs would receive financial assistance from Socso in seven days after their termination had been confirmed.

He added that the retrenched workers would also be given mobility assistance to find a new job and work placement.

Depending on how long a worker had been contributing, he said employees would receive cash assistance for a maximum of six months starting from 80 per cent of the insured pay for the first month, which was reduced to 50 per cent, 40 per cent and 30 per cent in the successive months.

Nonetheless, Mohd Ali said Socso would be providing the interim benefit of RM600 monthly cash allowance for a maximum of three months in the first year of implementation in 2018, while contributions by employers and employees would only be utilized starting 2019.

On another note, he said the EIS would not affect the existing Employment Termination and Lay-off Benefit (ETLB).

“There are no overlap between both schemes. EIS is different from the existing scheme (ETLB).”

Adding on, Socso’s EIS administrative officer, Mohd Arif bin Aziz said the insurance system had been implemented in over 70 countries including the United States, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Thailand.

The contribution rate of 0.4 per cent for EIS in Malaysia is the lowest in the world, compared to Thailand (1.25 per cent), Vietnam (three per cent), Arab Saudi (two per cent) and South Korea (2.15 per cent).

Around 350 participants comprising business owners, employees and relevant associations attended the seminar yesterday.

The EIS roadshow will be held in Sandakan on December 13 and Tawau on December 15.

Also present was Socso¡¦s EIS administrative officer, Mohd Shakir bin Mohd Saad. 

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by Chok Sim Yee

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