Recruitment benefit and well being

According to Leonard Yeoh & Chen Mei Quin (2015) employees who fall within the
Employee Act, give the right to termination benefits if the employee was employed under a
continuous contract of employment for at least 12 months before the termination. Pursuant to
the Regulations, the quantum of termination benefits to be paid is prescribed. For employees
who do not fall within the Employee Act, the obligation to pay retrenchment benefits and the
quantum of retrenchment benefits, if any, would be in agreement with their employment
contract, if applicable. Employers are also required to submit the prescribed form to the
Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia at least 30 days before the date of retrenchment.

In Malaysia both the employers and the employees regard severance pay as a form of
unemployment-related benefit. All workers whose salary do not exceed RM1,500 a month
and all manual workers irrespective of their earnings are covered under the Employment Act
1955 which provides for severance pay. Severance pay in Malaysia is known as retrenchment
benefits, which are paid at the following rates:

10 days wages for each year of service for employment shorter than two years,
15 days wages for each year of service for employment longer than two years but
shorter than five years,
20 days wages for each year of service for employment of five years or longer.

Employees Provident Fund (EPF) a organization provides benefits for old age, disability
and death. It also provides members of the fund who have savings in their accounts to pay for
medical treatment of critical sickness or to pay for the medical treatment of their spouse,
children and parents.

In Malaysia work injury insurance is treated as a kind of employment related advantage.

The Social Security Organization (or SOCSO), a statutory body, administers payment of
benefits under the Employment Injury Scheme and Invalidity Pension Scheme. These
schemes provide benefits to workers in cases of employment injury and invalidity. Hence,
although these two schemes are not unemployment-specific, an unemployed worker who was
injured or who has become invalid during his immediate past employment may receive
benefits under these schemes.

The Ministry of Social Welfare and National Unity runs a programme to relieve destitution.
Under the Destitute Person Act 1977, a family is categorized as poor if the household
monthly income of the family is less than RM460 (HK$938). Families who suffer from
poverty due to unemployment, amongst other causes such as old age, illness and disability,
eligible to get benefit under this programme.
 From the perspective of recruitment benefit and well being Madam Maryam Binti
Awang from Pertubuhan Peladang Kawasan, Kangar Perlis said that payment of retrenchment
benefits should be made compulsory in both private and public sectors. Secondly, Madam
Maryam said that according to the Employee Act an employee should be provided
retrenchment benefits if the employee was employed under a continuous contract of
employment for at least 12 months before the termination and for employees who do not fall
within the Employment Act, it is a compulsion to pay retrenchment benefits and the quantum
of retrenchment benefits, according to their employment contract.
Madam Maryam also shared a newspaper article regarding retrenchment benefits that
she had read before. She said that different scheme should be implemented to help retrenched
employees, that benefit all parties such as for employees, a third EPF account should be set
up with deductions from their salary going into this account until it amounts their one-month
salary and companies can set aside the equivalent of one months pay for all their stuff into a
company account. Madam Maryam said government should set aside an allocation for
retrenchments, and based on a workers income records, government should disburse a
months wages to those who are retrenched. In this way, she said, any employee in the private
sector who is retrenched could get up to three months wages on top of their retrenchment
benefits.

Madam Maryam also mentions lay-off benefits of organization is very important and
beneficial for all the employees, which potentially allow retrenched staff to focus on picking
up new skills for their future jobs instead of worrying about paying off the familys monthly
expenses. Madam Maryam said that it will make an employee less worrisome if they are able
to rely on some short-term retrenchment payment to tide them over for a few months at the
same time as they find another job. She also said that the retrenchment benefit law should
compel firms to pay a minimum sum of between three to six months of benefits, depending
on the employees length of service.