Dewan Rakyat approves new social security scheme for round-the-clock coverage and boosts employment insurance payouts for Malaysian workers
KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Rakyat has passed two significant bills aimed at strengthening social security and employment benefits for workers.
The Employees’ Social Security (Amendment) Bill 2025 introduces the Lindung 24/7 protection scheme, providing comprehensive coverage to employees at all times, including outside working hours.
Human Resources Minister Steven Sim said the scheme would benefit nearly 10 million formal workers nationwide.
He stated that the Social Security Organisation (Perkeso) is ready to ensure the scheme’s smooth implementation.
“The average processing time for claims under Perkeso over the past year was about 24 hours,” Sim said during the winding-up debate.
The minister highlighted that 12,306 claims were rejected from 2023 until last October as they were not occupational accidents.
This underscored the need for the new Non-Occupational Accident Safety Scheme (SKBBK) to prevent families from bearing treatment costs for off-duty incidents.
The bill was passed by a majority voice vote after debate by 10 MPs.
Separately, the Employment Insurance System (Amendment) Bill 2025 was also approved.
It seeks to increase benefits for contributors who lose their jobs and strengthen the system’s governance.
Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Mohamad said 57,094 workers, or 85.3%, had received benefits out of 69,923 job-loss cases over five years.
“The total value of SIP benefits approved amounts to RM437.19 million,” he said.
The government is committed to delivering assistance swiftly so affected workers can sustain themselves.
This bill was approved with a majority vote after being debated by six MPs. – Bernama
