KUALA LUMPUR: The proposed employees’ insurance scheme has been approved by Cabinet, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem said today.
“The scheme was approved last week. It is indeed good news.
“It will be tabled in the next Parliament sitting,” Richard said at the Human Capital Strategic Initiatives launch ceremony organised by the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) here today.
When asked to elaborate further on the matter, Richard said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will soon announce details of the scheme.
It was revealed in the Dewan Rakyat last week that about four million workers stand to benefit from the proposed scheme to protect their welfare in the event of retrenchment.
Human Resources Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Abdul Muttalib, who was responding to a question from Datuk Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid (PKR-Kuala Langat) on government steps to expedite the scheme’s realisation, said that once it is passed, it will be implemented in 2018.
The scheme will provide temporary financial aid to workers during the period between their retrenchment and before they find a new job.
Meanwhile, at the Human Capital Strategic Initiatives launch ceremony, Richard listed four programmes which will be introduced to boost Malaysia’s pool of skilled workers: the 1Malaysia Outplacement Centre (1MOC), the Train and Replace Programme (T&R), the Graduates Enhancement Programme for Employability (GENERATE), and the Rural Accelerated Industrial Skill For Employment (RAISE).
He noted that skilled workers in the country amount to just four million people, or 28 per cent of the total workforce of 14.8 million working adults.
“We target to raise the percentage of skilled workers among Malaysia’s workforce to 35 per cent by 2020,” Richard added.