KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 – The Social Security Organisation (Socso) is targeting 50,000 employers to register their staff this year, says chief executive officer Datuk Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed. He said: “If in 2014, we recorded 41,847 employers who registered their staff with Socso and in 2015, there were 49,751, we hope more employers will come forward so that they and their workers can get Socso coverage.”
In the meantime, he also said that they believe that there are many more employers with at least one employee who is not registered. This year, he said they have added 400 more staff nationwide for the eighth ‘Ops Kesan’. He said this when met at the Socso headquarters here recently.
He urged employers to register at any of the 49 Socso offices nationwide before March 30 to avoid being compounded between RM500 and RM4,000, and risk court action if they failed to pay the compound. He said if found guilty, the employers can be fined up to RM10,000 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
Mohammed Azman noted, among factors why employers did not register with Socso were lack of awareness and understanding of the Employees’ Social Security Act 1969, as well as apathy of employers. The Act includes free medical treatment, physical or vocational rehabilitation and financial benefits to workers who lost their capability to work due to accident or illness.
It also states that if an employee dies, their dependants will be assured financial redress through monthly pension payments. Meanwhile, Enforcement and Operations Division manager Hairiri Harun said while Socso currently, did not have an online registration system, it (system) could be developed in the future to enable employers to register their workers.
