Socso urges employers, business owners to register before start of Ops Kesan
BINTULU: Employers and business proprietors here who have yet to register their businesses or make contributions to the Social Security Organisation (Socso) are given another two weeks to do so before the official enforcement of Ops Kesan June 8 to 30.
Socso Bintulu office branch manager Jimmy Hendrick Kijon said Ops Kesan will be enforced based on the provisions under Section 4 and 5 of the Employee Safety Act 1969 (Act 4); Sections 14 and 16 of the Employment Insurance Scheme Act (Act 800); and Self-Employment Social Security Act 2017 (Act 789).
All employers even with at least one worker must register and contribute to Socso to ensure social security protection of their workers, he said when met at his office yesterday.
Since May 1 this year, Socso has carried out Ops Pemutihan to raise awareness on the matter, with companies which registered voluntarily during the amnesty period being exempted from compound action and prosecution.
Failure to register within the stipulated period is an offence that can be subjected to compound action and prosecution in court, Jimmy said.
“In 2020, a total of 30 compounds for various offences were issued with 16 prosecution papers, followed by another eight prosecution papers in 2021.
“Those convicted can be sentenced to two years’ imprisonment or a fine up to RM10,000 or both,” he added.
He pointed out that several major commercial areas here have been identified for inspection under Ops Kesan next month.
“For the record as of May this year, Bintulu has 3,966 active employers out of 10,414 registered compared to 4,178 active out of 10,236 registered in 2021,” he said.
The total number of active employees, meanwhile, has shown a significant drop with 70,287 employees as of May this year compared to 90, 436 the previous year; with Bintulu recording the second highest registered foreign workers at 30,268 after Miri (35,002) as of October 2021, he disclosed.
“I hope employers will take the opportunity within these two weeks’ time to come forward to register and be responsible employers.”
For new registration, employers can do it via online by downloading the forms at Socso’s official portal at www.perkeso. gov.my.
However, they are also required to personally go to Sosco’s office for verification purposes and to obtain their IDs before they can access the portal and complete the registration.