Socso to extend coverage to all employees

The Employees' Social Security (Amendment) Bill 2015 which is aimed at extending social security protection coverage to all employees was tabled for second reading at the Dewan Rakyat Wednesday.

Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri Dr Richard Riot, who tabled the bill said it contained 12 clauses involving eight sections, whether amended or added with new provisions aimed at improving the capacity of the Social Security Organisation (Socso).

"Among the amendments proposed in the bill include a provision for all employees to be insured, regardless of the amount of their salaries but subject to a ceiling contribution and benefit of RM4,000.

"The proposed amendments also include Socso coverage for self-employed and gave the organisation the authority to implement whatever schemes to protect employees who lost their employment," he said.

Also proposed was an amendment to remove the representative of Bank Negara from the Socso Investment Panel to prevent conflict of interest when the organisation was dealing in a matter which involved the authority of Bank Negara.

Riot said there were 63,331 accident cases involving 933 deaths at the workplace in 2014, while last year the figure was 62,463 accidents with 1,000 deaths.

According to him, road accidents involving workers to-and-fro work were showing a worrying trend and should be given social protection and it should be extended to cover employees nationwide.

"The proposal is a manifestation of the government caring for the welfare of employees in the country and it is expected to give benefit directly, in the form of interest value protection through Socso, to an additional half a million employees.

"This will increase the Socso coverage from six million employees now to 6.5 million employees (after the amendments have been passed)."

The bill was later debated by several members of parliament who generally agreed with the proposed amendments but wanted further improvements.

Normala Abdul Samad (BN-Pasir Gudang) said the proposal to remove the Bank Negara representative from the Socso Investment Panel should be reviewed as the move might not bring good perception to the organisation.

Idris Ahmad (PAS-Bukit Gantang) concurred with Normala that the Bank Negara representative should be retained in Socso's investment panel to look after the accountability of the employees' organisation.

He also proposed that a Syariah advisor be placed as a member of the Socso Investment Panel to monitor the halal status of investment activities as most contributors were Muslims.

Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim (BN-Baling) proposed Socso review the employee insurance coverage on the journey to-and-fro work which was sometimes seen as not in favour of the employee.

"Imagine, if I were to work in Sungai Way and was returning to Subang Jaya but there was an emergency on the way back in Kuala Lumpur so I detoured to Kuala Lumpur, and on the way I met with an accident.

"But at Socso, they cannot pay me as I was out of the Socso radar. This is among the issues which need to be reviewed," he said.

The Dewan will sit again today.