The Wage Subsidy Program 3.0 under the Social Security Organisation will be opened to all employers operating within states which have been placed under the Movement Control Order (MCO), irrespective of sector. Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced this under the latest subsidy programme named Permai.
For a period of one month, eligible employers will receive a wage subsidy of RM600 for each employee who earns less than RM4,000. In addition, the wage subsidy limit of 200 employees for each employer will be increased to 500 employees. “This initiative involves an additional allocation of RM1 billion which is estimated to benefit 250,000 companies employing more than 2.6 million workers,” he said during the special address aired live on national television.
The prime minister said the government has also agreed to relax the conditions for the Employment Insurance System (EIS) Prihatin programme, thus helping those who had suffered loss of employment during the MCO period. He said employees who do not meet the minimum contribution conditions, or whose contracts were not extended after having been renewed for at least three times previously, are now eligible to apply for the assistance of 30 per cent of their monthly salary for a period of three months.
To acknowledge the contribution of delivery riders who form the backbone of the delivery services of goods and meals during the MCO period, Muhyiddin announced a RM24 million allocation to fund the full contribution under Socso’s Self-Employment Social Security Scheme. “To date, almost 32,000 applications from delivery riders have been received under the scheme,” he said.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin announced a RM15 billion assistance package called the Perlindungan Ekonomi dan Rakyat Malaysia (Permai) package. A total of 22 initiatives will be implemented under Permai with the aim to combat the Covid-19 outbreak, safeguarding the welfare of the people as well as supporting business continuity. “In general, the Permai assistance package improves on the existing on-going initiatives and also accelerates the implementation of related initiatives.
