Recruitment incentives: Employers must submit SD to prevent misuse of funds - Saravanan

KUALA LUMPUR: Companies or employers applying for the Employment Recruitment Incentives Programme under the National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA) are required to submit a statutory declaration (SD) to prevent misuse of the funds.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said the additional condition for the application of the programme, managed by the Social Security Organisation (Socso), was also imposed to prevent employers from making false claims.

"Employers must submit an SD stating the total number of their employees and a stricter action will be taken against them if they are found using a fake SD," he told a virtual press conference here today.

Saravanan said as of yesterday (May 18), Socso has received 1,758 complaints regarding suspicious payment of the incentives.

Of that total he said, 1,231 cases were found to be baseless, 340 were suspected to be fraudulent claims, while 187 were still under investigation.

SARAVANAN-PENJANA 2 (LAST) KUALA LUMPUR

Meanwhile, he said the Socso's anti-fraud unit and Ethics and Compliance branch were currently investigating a report over the existence of a syndicate involving a company that was allegedly falsifying employment data to apply for the PenjanaKerjaya 2.0 incentives.

Saravanan said the case would also be referred to the police or the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), if necessary.

As such, he reminded all job seekers not to share their personal information on social media.

Complaints or enquiries regarding the PENJANA incentives can be made by sending email to penjanakerjaya@perkeso.gov.my or contacting Socso's Customer Service Hotline at 1-300-22-8000 or 03 80915300.

-- BERNAMA