Good news as EIS will be implemented in January

Health is wealth: Step into any of the Socso offices to get the health screening vouchers on offer.

KUANTAN: The Employment Insu­rance System (EIS) will be fully implemented in January to provide a safety net for employees who lose their jobs.

The initiative, carried out by the Social Security Organisation (Socso), includes job placement, skills en­­hancement and compensation.

Under EIS, Socso will also provide advice and assist workers to find new jobs through its 54 branches nationwide, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said when tabling Budget 2019.

As a worker who had been laid off, Mohd Khaizal Idris, 43, welcomed the move, saying EIS would help retrenched workers between jobs.

“Even if the employer is irresponsible and refused to pay compensation, at least there is the EIS,” he said.

Mohd Khaizal was among some 90 employees of a steel production plant here who suddenly found themselves jobless in October last year after the factory closed down.

He said they were still involved in a legal dispute with their former employer, which has yet to compensate them.

“These days, there are many companies going out of business ...

“Workers have financial obligations and debts and I think this system can help cover their finances while they look for new jobs,” said Mohd Khaizal, who had since found a new job.

According to Socso’s website, the EIS was introduced in January this year. Qualification for the EIS included forced resignation, retrenchment, resignation due to an employer’s failure to comply with the terms of contract, resignation due to sexual harassment at workplace and closure of company or factory.

Workers who qualify currently receive up to RM600 a month for a maximum of three months.