No compounds, persecution for employers who register during the amnesty period
Employers across Malaysia have been given until June 30 to voluntarily register their company and employees to the Social Security Organisation (Socso) or risk being persecuted.
Socso announced a two-month extension early this month to "give more time for employers to voluntarily register their employees," according to chief executive Datuk Seri Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed.
"Hence, Socso calls on all employers who have not registered and contributed (for their employees) to immediately do so voluntarily either online through the ASSIST Portal or at any of the 54 Socso offices nationwide, or by contacting Socso Careline at 1-300-22-8000," said Mohammed Azman as quoted by Bernama.
The chief executive assured that employers who register staff during the two-month period will not be compounded, persecuted or charged interest on late payments despite missing the previous deadline.
Socso is a government agency tasked of providing private sector employees social security protection in terms of cash and benefits in case of workplace injuries, emergencies, occupational sickness, and death, according to JobStreet.
All private sector employers are mandated to register with Socso as part of their obligations under the Employee's Social Security Act 1969. This includes registering new employees under the organisation, regardless of whether they have been signed into it by their previous employer.
The June 30 deadline comes ahead of the Ops Kesan launching, or the annual inspection carried out by Socso officers to identify employers who failed to register their business or employees under Socso.
The operation will be launched in July, with over 500 officers to be deployed, according to Mohammed Azman.
"Ops Kesan aims to ensure that all employers who employ at least one employee (regardless of the amount of the salary) register their companies and employees in accordance with the provisions of Sections 4 and 5 of the Employees' Social Security Act 1969 (Act 4) as well as Sections 14 and 16 of the Employment Insurance System Act 2017 (Act 800)," Mohammed Azman said as quoted by Bernama.
Previous reasons cited by employers for not being able to register on time include being unaware of the grace period or learning about them too late, according to the chief executive.
"As such, we plan to utilise all available platforms and hold more awareness campaigns within the next two months to spread awareness of this grace period as much as possible," he said as quoted by The Star.
Errant employers will face compounds of up to RM10,000 or up to years of imprisonment, or both. They will also be charged interest on late payments. Nearly 1.15 million active employers are registered under Socso, but only 573,390 are active contributors, according to The Star's report.
