IT was reported recently that the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) wanted the Social Security Organisation (Socso) to expedite implementation of its suggested social protection scheme to better protect employees.
The essence of the scheme is to provide comprehensive 24-hour protection for those who experience accidents outside their working hours and during activities not related to their work.
But before we embark on an additional scheme, we need to study whether Socso has the financial capability to implement it.
At present, employees contribute 0.5% of their wages to Socso, while employers contribute 1.75% to the Employment Injury Insurance Scheme and the Invalidity Pension Scheme.
MTUC president Mohd Effendy Abdul Ghani also said that the protection scheme has already been implemented in developed countries such as Canada, New Zealand and the US.
However, he did not provide information on contributions by the employees and employers in those countries.
The contributions would dictate the success of the scheme.
Under Socso’s existing scheme for those involved in an accident, if it is not during any work-related travelling it is not covered by Socso.
With the current collections from employees and employers, Socso has expanded its coverage on compensations given out to workers over the years.
In recent years, Socso also assisted workers who have lost their jobs.
Over the years, unscrupulous people have viewed Socso as an organisation that they can exploit.
It was reported recently that in just five years, from 2018 to 2022, Socso detected 683 cases of fraudulent claims amounting to RM43 million.
To some extent, they have depleted the limited financial resources of Socso.
These unscrupulous people are like people who steal money from charity boxes in places of religious worship.
Socso would need more financial resources to implement the scheme.
The current contribution by employers is 1.75%.
Maybe the contributions from employees could be raised to 1% to extend their protections off duty.
The employer has already done its duty by caring for them while at work.
It is not reasonable to ask employers to pay for their protection off-duty.
Wong Soo Kan
Petaling Jaya
