Changing perceptions of disabled employees

Dr Mohammed Azman says Socso has taken steps to convince workers with disabilities to return to work instead of relying on payouts.

THE Social Security Organisation (Socso) has played a pivotal role in getting workers with disabilities employed, sometimes in the same job.

From January 2007 to July 31 this year, 25, 891 workers with disabilities went through Socso’s Return to Work (RTW) programme and reported for duty.

With support from Socso, there is growing awareness among employers that these workers can still be productive.

Previously, case managers often had to put in much effort and even make personal calls to convince employers to hire these workers.

Now Socso chief executive officer Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed said employers had started contacting the organisation to get candidates upon seeing how productive such workers could be after undergoing RTW and rehabilitation programmes.

“We can see the outcome across industries when one employer starts hiring and sees the potential, the rest often follow suit.

“In fact, some employers after working with us, have even raised the bar by setting KPIs that such workers should make up 1.8% of its total workforce and we have also seen some raising the percentage even further, ” he said.

Under his leadership, many who become disabled because of injuries, accidents and chronic illnesses have been assessed and placed under the RTW programme before returning to the job market.

Dr Mohammed Azman said the organisation had taken steps to convince contributors with disabilities to return to work instead of relying on Socso payouts.

“Socso only provides temporary replacement of income and not total income replacement.

“In fact, we have seen many cases where the compensation provided by Socso only lasts for a short time and when they are unemployed, they end up becoming desperate because of the absence of income, ” he said.

Socso’s primary goal in the RTW programme is to increase the capacity of insured persons – both mentally and physically – before returning them into the workforce.

“With the consultation of treating doctors and rehabilitation providers like our very own Socso Rehabilitation Centre facilitated by case managers, various rehabilitation interventions are implemented with the goal of getting them back to work as soon and as safely as possible, enabling them to become economically independent, ” said Dr Mohammed Azman.

He emphasised that education played a crucial role as a disabled worker or family members might not think return to employment is possible because of his or her condition.

“Often they are not aware of the possibilities and potential in rehabilitation.

“Apart from that, there is also a lot of anxiety as they fear further injury.

“Therefore, when a case manager meets contributors to educate and counsel them on the potential and possibilities of both physical and vocational rehabilitation, they become more aware and are willing to give it a shot in order to get back to work, ” he stressed.

In addition, Dr Mohammed Azman said testimonies were also used to convince insured persons.

“We introduced programmes such as ‘Bangkit’ to showcase successful cases from RTW on national television.”

On top of that, he said should reskilling or upskilling be required, Socso provided vocational training to improve their chances of getting new jobs as well as help them retain skills if they are at risk of losing their jobs.

He added that the total number of employment injuries reported to Socso had been going up over the past five years, from 63, 331 in 2014 to 72, 631 last year.

“This was largely contributed by commuting accidents, which rose to 35, 195 in 2018, compared with 28, 307 cases recorded in 2014.

“Industrial accidents, on the other hand, has remained the same over the past five years – around 35, 000 cases annually.

“The amount of compensation has also shown an upward trend over the same period, of which the total compensation for employment injuries reached RM1.1bil in 2018 compared to RM866mil five years earlier, ” he said.

Dr Mohammed Azman added that Socso was looking forward to the International Special Education Exhibition and Conference 2019 and hoped to showcase its RTW programme and employment services.

“I hope with this conference, more stakeholders are exposed to various aspects and understand persons with special needs more holistically.

“I am impressed by the different areas that will be looked into at this conference by discussing topics like tools, technology and wellness.

“There are also aspects of innovation that will be presented in this conference which can further introduce new ways or tools that can contribute towards increasing the employability of persons with special needs, ” he said.