IN December last year, I visited the parents of a victim of a fatal accident at work. The deceased was only 28 years old.
On behalf of the Social Security Organisation (Perkeso), I submitted a benefit contribution to the deceased's family: RM2,000 as a one-off Funeral Benefit and RM702 per month as a Dependant's Benefit payment. Both parents of the victim will receive this monthly benefit until the end of their lives.
In January this year, I visited a housewife, a former clerk at an employment agency company, who is suffering from paralysis of all her limbs.
Once again, I represented Perkeso to deliver a monthly benefit of RM1,550 to her family.
No amount of money can replace health and happiness. However, when something undesirable happens, a social security protection scheme can provide relief in times of suffering.
In carrying out its strategic mission to raise the welfare, skills and success of employees, the Human Resources Ministry, or Kesuma, prioritises the employee's social security protection as an important component.
The International Labour Organisation supports social security as a basic human right that provides protection against the risks of life.
The social security system is not only an investment in the welfare of workers, but also contributes towards increased success and economic progress.
Kesuma's strategy to improve the social security protection of workers is divided into three levels:
Short-term: Improving existing policies
In February, Perkeso launched its smartphone app, Prihatin, to provide better services to contributors. Through the application and the Perkeso website, contributors can check their contribution status and download their statement.
The transition from a conventional approach to a technology-based approach allows contributors to register for Perkeso schemes at their fingertips, in addition to access Sahabat Perkeso Prihatin services, general information and benefit calculations.
The Madani government is determined to fulfil the government's promise in the 2024 Budget to raise the contribution salary limit from RM5,000 a month to RM6,000.
The first reading of the amendments to the act was done on March 26.
This will benefit 1.45 million workers where their coverage benefits will increase by 20.2 per cent.
For example, an employee with a salary of RM6,000 who lost his job can receive income replacement benefits amounting to RM16,065 compared with RM13,365 before the amendment.
The Funeral Benefit was also increased from RM2,000 to RM3,000.
The age limit for the Housewives' Social Security Scheme (SKSSR) will also be increased from 55 years to 60 years to extend coverage to an additional 720,000 housewives nationwide. Amendments to related acts will be implemented this year.
Medium-term: Speed up social security scheme to gig and care economy sectors
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced an allocation of RM100 million in the 2024 Budget as a subsidy for Perkeso's Self-Employment Social Security Scheme (SKSPS) contribution to workers in the gig and self-employed sectors.
Through the subsidy, workers in this sector only need to pay RM23.30 per year for the SKSPS second plan contribution, compared with the original amount of RM232.80 per year.
The remainder will be financed by the government. With only RM23.30 a year or six cents a day, contributors can enjoy eight types of benefits: medical benefit, temporary disablement benefit, permanent disablement benefit, and dependant's benefit.
In March, the Transport Ministry in collaboration with Kesuma provided 100 per cent free SKSPS coverage to 50,000 taxi and school bus drivers nationwide.
The minsitry targets to reach at least 1,000,000 SKSPS contributors this year.
In addition to gig sector workers, care economy sector workers, who have been underestimated in terms of economic contribution, are the focus of Kesuma this year.
Kesuma would like to at least provide social security protection to the workers of this care economy sector, most of whom are housewives.
In honour of International Women's Day in March, Kesuma provided SKSSR protection for free to all 12,500 of its citizens — male employees can nominate their wives.
Kesuma also organised a strategic collaboration with the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry to provide tax exemptions under Section 44(6) of the Income Tax Act 1967 to parties who contribute SKSSR sponsorship to women from the B40 group.
In March, 10 local companies sponsored RM558,360 to provide SKSSR protection to 4653 women.
Kesuma's target is to reach at least 500,000 housewives this year compared with 200,000 last year.
Long-term: More comprehensive national social security
This strategy has two components. The most important is to provide 24-hour social security protection to workers, when disasters occur outside of hours and scope of work.
This 24-hour social security protection is to ensure a better survival in the event of an accident to an employee thus complementing the welfare service system and health service system.
For example, with this 24-hour social security protection, employees who are permanently disabled can be given a monthly benefit of up to 90 per cent of their monthly salary. In the event of death, their dependants can receive the monthly benefit.
This eases the financial burden of the victim's family and reduces welfare and health related costs that may have to be financed by taxpayers if the victim is not covered by a scheme like this.
Preliminary projections show that the above benefits can be enjoyed with an increase in contributions from as low as RM11 per month (for the lowest salary scale, which is RM1,500 per month).
However, the challenge for the implementation of 24-hour social security protection is clear: who will pay those additional contributions each month?
The second component is to provide rehabilitation services as a more comprehensive social security protection.
A total of 13,680 patients have undergone rehabilitation treatment at Perkeso's Rehabilitation Centre in Melaka since 2014. In 2023, out of 2,521 patients who underwent rehabilitation treatment, 676 have returned to work.
At the end of this year, a centre will be completed in Perak while another will be built in Terengganu. Kesuma's aspiration is to build three more centres within the next five years, including in Sarawak.
In addition, to provide more comprehensive services and reduce operating costs, Perkeso will establish at least one dialysis centre in each state within three years.
Perkeso has four dialysis centres in its Klang, Shah Alam. Batu Pahat and Kluang.
Seven more centres have been approved by the Health Ministry and will provide savings of 15 per cent for each dialysis treatment.
In conclusion, Kesuma is committed to empowering the employee social security protection system through a strategic and systematic approach.
Of course, there are challenges ahead — part of this renewal process may take time.
However, there is an urgent need to change the mindset that social protection is not an additional financial burden for employers or employees, but rather a long-term investment that guarantees the success and survival of the national workforce.
Steven Sim Chee Keong
Human resources minister