If you work for a company, you may have noticed a SOCSO deduction in your payslip every month. All paid workers who have a contract with their employer, including temporary and part-time workers, must contribute to SOCSO.

You may know that SOCSO is a kind of insurance scheme, but do you know how it works or what benefits you can get from it?

Understanding SOCSO
SOCSO, or the Social Security Organisation (Pertubuhan Keselamatan Sosial – PERKESO) manages financial protection programmes for workers. Your monthly salary deductions for SOCSO go towards their Employment Injury Insurance and Invalidity Scheme.

SOCSO also provides the Self-Employment Social Security Scheme for self-employed workers as well as the Employment Insurance Scheme to give money to workers who lose their jobs for certain reasons.

Employment Injury Scheme
The Employment Injury Scheme gives medical and financial benefits to workers if they get into an accident or fall sick because of working. The protection covers:

Industrial accidents like if you work in a factory or construction site
Commuting accidents while you’re travelling for work, between your house and place of work or between your work and the place you eat while on meal breaks. But remember, you’re only protected for commuting accidents while you are travelling to or from work, and not if you decide to stop at the bank or post office after lunch!
Accidents during an emergency at the workplace, like if you’re helping your co-workers leave the office building during a fire
Occupational diseases such as loss of hearing from too much noise and asthma from breathing in too much dangerous chemicals or dust at the workplace

Invalidity Scheme
The Invalidity Scheme covers permanent disability which makes you unable to work and unable to earn at least 1/3 of the income you would have usually earned as a healthy person. Unlike the Employment Injury Scheme, the Invalidity Scheme covers workers even if they become disabled or pass away because of reasons not related to working.

What can you get from SOCSO?
The Employment Injury Scheme and Invalidity Scheme give short and long-term medical and financial assistance depending on how serious your illness or injury is. Your dependents will also get benefits if you pass away.

The specific benefits for each scheme are as follows:

Employment Injury Scheme

Invalidity Scheme

1. Temporary disablement benefit:

Free medical treatment at SOCSO panel clinics or government clinics/hospitals until you’ve fully recovered. You can find their list of panel clinics here.
Medical care and second-class ward treatment at government hospitals for serious injuries.
Specialist treatment if needed.
For treatment at clinics which are not on SOCSO’s panel, you can apply to claim for your medical expenses from SOCSO.

2. Temporary disablement benefit:

If you get at least four days certified medical leave, SOCSO will pay you between RM30 and RM105.33 a day, depending on your salary.

3. Permanent disablement benefit:

If you become permanently disabled because of a work injury, you can get between RM30 and RM118.50 a day from SOCSO. Make sure you claim within 12 months of becoming permanently disabled!
Depending on how much the total payout is, you’ll either get it fully in one lump sum or you’ll get part of it in a lump sum with the balance paid to you monthly for the rest of your life.

4. Constant attendant allowance:

If you become permanently disabled and you need a certified medical worker to take care of you all the time, you can get a RM500 monthly allowance.

5. Physical/vocational rehabilitation:

Physiotherapy, occupational therapy, reconstructive surgery, supply of prosthetics, orthotics and other appliances as well as equipment such as wheelchairs, crutches, hearing aid, spectacles and special shoes among others.
Training in electrical, sewing, radio/TV repair and typing, among others.

6. Dependents’ benefit

If you pass away because of a work injury, your dependents (husband/wife and child, or your parents and brothers/sisters if you’re single and have no children, or your grandparents if your parents have passed away) will be paid between RM30 and RM118.50 a day depending on your salary

7. Funeral benefit:

If you pass away due to a work injury or while you’re getting permanent disablement benefits, the person in charge of your funeral expenses will get up to RM2,000.

8. Education benefit:

If you pass away because of a work injury or are getting permanent disablement benefits, your children can get education loans. (Read more here).

For further details on Employment Injury Scheme, click here.

1. Invalidity pension:

If you become too sick or disabled and cannot work, haven’t reached 60 years old and have been contributing to SOCSO for at least two years, you can get a monthly pension of at least RM475, depending on your salary.

2. Invalidity grant:

If you become too sick or disabled and cannot work but don’t meet the requirements under the invalidity pension, you can get paid the same amount you would have gotten from the invalidity pension. The difference is that you’ll get paid one lump sump instead of a monthly pension.

3. Constant attendant allowance:

If you become permanently disabled and you need a certified medical worker to take care of you all the time, you can get a RM500 monthly allowance.

4. Survivors’ pension:

If you pass away before the age of 60 or if you’d been getting the invalidity pension, your dependents can get a monthly pension of at least RM475.

5. Funeral benefit:

If you pass away due to a work injury or while getting permanent disablement benefits, the person in charge of your funeral expenses can get up to RM2,000.

6. Physical/vocational rehabilitation:

Physiotherapy, occupational therapy, reconstructive surgery, supply of prosthetics, orthotics and other appliances as well as equipment such as wheelchairs, crutches, hearing aid, spectacles and special shoes among others.
Training in electrical, sewing, radio/TV repair and typing, among others.
Dialysis treatment for chronic renal failure.

7. Education benefit:

If you pass away while you’re getting your invalidity pension, or before the age of 60 and meet certain conditions, your children can get education loans. (Read more here).

For further details on the Invalidity Scheme, click here.

How do SOCSO contributions work?
Like EPF contributions, both employers and employees contribute a share to the employees’ SOCSO every month. The rate of SOCSO contributions is based on the following categories:

First category: Payments to the Employment Injury Scheme and the Invalidity Scheme for employees younger than 60 years. Contributions will follow the schedule set out by SOCSO. If you haven’t reached 60 years, you’ll fall under this category, where your employer must contribute 1.75% of your monthly salary and you contribute 0.5% of your monthly salary according to SOCSO’s schedule.
Second category: Workers who have reached 60 years to be covered under the Employee Injury Scheme only. If you’re 55 and just started working, you’ll fall under this category, where your employer must contribute 1.25% of your monthly salary based on SOCSO’s schedule.

Note that even though SOCSO has set the percentage of your monthly salary that you and your employer must contribute, the amount of monthly contributions are actually based on SOCSO’s salary table. In this table, or schedule, SOCSO has divided up different salary levels into a range.

For example, if you are in the first category and you earn between RM1,001 and RM1,100, SOCSO has identified that your employer will pay RM18.35 and you will pay RM5.25. If you earn between RM1,101 and RM1,200, SOCSO has set that your employer will pay RM20.15 and you will pay RM5.75.

You can refer to SOCSO’s table of contributions here.

You should also know that SOCSO contributions are only calculated up to a maximum monthly salary of RM4,000. So, if you make anything more than RM4,000, even though you still have to contribute to SOCSO and you’ll still get coverage, your contributions will follow the rate SOCSO has set for the over RM4,000 monthly salary range.

If you want to understand more about SOCSO contributions, you can click here.

How do you claim for SOCSO?
If you need to make a claim with SOCSO, you can get the forms you need here. You can contact them on 1300 22 800 or perkeso@perkeso.gov.my to find out more about making claims.

Now you know what SOCSO is, the next time you look at your payslip, you’ll know what those deductions are for! Because SOCSO coverage is not as wide as normal insurance policies, your monthly payments are cheaper than insurance, but the SOCSO benefits would definitely be helpful if you ever need it.