KUALA LUMPUR: Those who work in the local entertainment industry will be able to receive benefits via the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Social Security Organisation (Socso) contribution schemes that will be introduced by the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) from Jan 1 next year.
Finas chairman Datuk Hans Isaac said that he was confident an agreement would be able to be meted out due to the Finas Act which makes it compulsory for the producers as employers to provide contributions to their employees.
“The process to make the EPF and SOCSO schemes mandatory among those in the entertainment industry is currently about 90 per cent there already and is made much easier since there’s a provision under the Finas Act 1981 (Act 244) that allows for this to be realised.”
“The effort is also supported by broadcasters via the television stations as the contribution portions from the employer which is the producer has already been included into the total cost for the production.”
“So producers will no longer be able to avoid the responsibility as employers to contribute to about 30,000 working employees in the industry,” he said at a Finas town hall session with film industry players event at Kompleks Studio Merdeka in Finas here, today.
Hans added that the schemes would be compulsory for employees who earn from a minimum wage of RM1,100.
“The mechanism for the deduction of salary will be further streamlined depending on the duration of work and the different types of occupations.”
“For example, if a crew member only works for four days with a production but earns RM1,100 for it, then the production company will have to contribute a certain sum to the employee’s EPF account.”
“For SOCSO, as long as an employee works on a production for even a few days, the producer will have to contribute to the account,” he said of the initiative with the aim to ensure that the welfare of local industry players were taken cared of.
According to Hans, a pilot run would be launched for the schemes in October before taking full effect on Jan 1 next year.
The implementation of the EPF and SOCSO schemes are among a 15-point manifesto that was revealed after Hans’ appointment as Finas chairman on April 8. He added that those employers who did not comply with the schemes would have their Finas Certificate of Filming (SPP) documentation revoked.
The town hall session was attended by Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo, Finas CEO Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nadzri and the Finas board of directors, as well as 300 stakeholders and industry players.