The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on all sectors. The biggest sector that bears the brunt is the economic sector and governments all over the world have come up with various measures to cushion the economic impact on the masses, especially the employers and employees.

In Malaysia, in an attempt to combat the economic effects of the Movement Control Order, the Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) stepped up by actively monitoring the retrenchments or loss of employment throughout the country. Various proposals were introduced by SOCSO to mitigate the impact of the economic crisis and to help the business sector retain their employees.

The Ministry of Human Resources, through SOCSO implemented two significant initiatives in the form of financial assistance namely Employment Retention Programme (ERP) and the Wage Subsidy Programme (WSP).

Obviously here the aim is to ensure that the employer will not go bust and the employee will have job security.

Now comes the implementation aspect of it. In sum, the eligibility requirement for one places a lot of obstacles resulting in the so-called aid not reaching the common man.

The eligibility requirements, among others, state that only businesses that were registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia before Jan 1, 2020 or commenced their business before Jan 1, 2020 will be eligible for the WSP.

This effectively discriminates against businesses which were registered with the Companies Commission or commenced business from 1st January 2020 by precluding them from receiving this aid.

The aid under WSP, is only given to a maximum number of 200 employees. In other words, if a company has more than 200 employees, the payment of wages for the rest of its employees will solely be borne by the company.

SOCSO stated that the subsidy will be credited to the employer’s account within 7-14 days upon successful application by the employer subject to the fulfilment of the eligibility requirements.

However, many netizens have expressed their frustrations online that they have yet to receive the promised subsidy, which affects their livelihood in these trying times.

Attempts by employers to engage with SOCSO to address the issue of delays have often resulted in failures as emails and phone calls were left at times unanswered.

Despite having a well-intended idea, there is much more that can be done to address the implementation of these proposals so that the aid can be delivered effectively to achieve the objectives of the EPW.

SOCSO also introduced the ‘Prihatin Screening Programe’ (PSP), which provides free COVID-19 health screening for eligible employees.

The Star on April 18 reported that SOCSO will be conducting health screening for workers allowed to resume operations
during the MCO through their panel clinics.

The Federation of Malaysia Manufacturers (FMM) indicated that it remained unclear that the 3,000 clinics on the SOCSO panel were ready with the COVID-19 test kits and their daily test capacity was in doubt due to the huge number of tests and employees, and time is of the essence.

A report in CodeBlue on April 21 stated that SOCSO is currently in the midst of drafting guidelines for COVID-19 screening for an estimated 400,000 workers.

The Federation of Private Medical Practitioners Associations Malaysia (FBMPAM), in response had urged the Government to expand the COVID-19 testing to all 7,000-over private general practitioners instead of only confining it to SOCSO panel clinics. This suggestion would allow for more efficient and rapid testing.

FBMPAM also questioned if SOCSO would cover the cost of a bio-safety cabinet to store the tests, protective gear and supplies, extra staff, time spent on prerequisite training, and disinfection if COVID-19 cases turn up at the clinics. This shows there were many things left unaddressed by SOCSO.

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) also had opposed the use of SOCSO funds to pay for the COVID-19 tests as the funds of the contributors are limited and hence SOCSO should procure the funds from other sources i.e. the government.

The above shows that there are clearly gaps in the implementation of these initiatives which will need to be addressed by SOCSO and these gaps need to be addressed sooner rather than later as the lives of the employer and employee are all at stake.

Datuk Baljit Singh Sidhu is a senior partner at Messers. Shukor Baljit and Partners, the author of the Criminal Litigation Process (3rd Edition) and Adjunct Professor of Law - Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA).