KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 ― Putrajaya’s proposed Employment Insurance System (EIS) should be extended to included workers who resign or are terminated, said a think-tank.
Political Studies for Change (KPRU), in a policy paper on EIS, said the scheme’s protection should go beyond retrenched workers only, as this would allow the programme to promote social mobility among lower income groups.
“With these, we would like to suggest that those who resigned or voluntarily retrenched, as well as some of those who were fired, should be considered for EIS protection on a case-by-case basis,” KPRU said in its policy paper, which was released by its executive director Ooi Heng.
The EIS would involve setting up a fund to temporarily help those who lose their jobs until they secure new employment elsewhere.
It would benefit some 6.5 million workers in the private sector, and would require contribution from both employers and employees.
KPRU claimed that extending the protection of the EIS to those who resign would also help prevent jobless workers from resorting to crime.
“Other than that, we also suggest that the EIS to be offered to self-employed people, on a voluntary basis,” it said further.
“Since the unemployment rate of Malaysia is at a level requiring attention, the implementation of EIS is important as a guarantee for the working class people in order to help unemployed people in facing their difficulties in their lives,” KPRU added.
EIS is expected to come into effect on January 1 next year.
