BILL TO PROTECT RETRENCHED WORKERS TABLED
Three to six months of unemployment benefits for those in private sector
THE Employment Insurance System Bill (EIS), which aims to protect those who have lost their source of income, was tabled in Parliament yesterday.
The bill seeks to better protect more than 6.5 million workers in the private sector through unemployment benefits for between three and six months.
It also proposed that those who were laid off, resigned due to certain reasons and those undergoing voluntary or mandatory separation schemes would be covered under the job-loss coverage system.
Under EIS, those affected would be entitled to job search and training allowances.
In the first month of unemployment, they would receive a job search allowance, which is 80 per cent of their last-drawn salary, up to RM4,000.
In the second month, it would be reduced to 50 per cent, 40 per cent in the third and fourth months, and 30 per cent in the fifth and sixth months.
The bill was tabled for its first reading by Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
On May 1, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that the government had allocated RM70 million for interest payment under EIS for private sector employees, who would get better protection under the Employees’ Social Security Act 1969.
It was mooted in 2014 to protect employees facing retrenchment and is expected to be enforced on Jan 1. Additional reporting by Teh Athira Yusof