Employers Found Abusing Wage Subsidy Programme

The government has been notified that there are companies that did not send the money provided under the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package’s (Prihatin) Wage Subsidy Programme to their employees, therefore violating the conditions set.

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz said the aid should not have been abused and employers should have been more responsible rather than exploiting and mistreating their employees.

“I would like to remind employers that the government will take action against such employers,” he said when presenting the 10th progress report on the implementation of the Prihatin and National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana) packages on his Facebook page yesterday.

Currently, 2.4 million workers benefit from the Wage Subsidy Program

The Wage Subsidy Programme was launched under the Prihatin package to support employers in retaining their employees.

Under the programme, the government granted a salary of RM600 per month to every worker for three months (for up to 200 workers per company).

It was targeted towards employees who make less than RM4,000 and employers who had endured a decline of over 50% in their income since Jan 1, 2020.

In launching Penjana earlier this month, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin declared that the programme, originally scheduled to last for three months, would be continued for another three months.

Wage subsidy programme saves 2.4m jobs

As of June 19, RM4.89bil had been approved for 303,596 employers under the Wage Subsidy Programme, which would support over 2.4 million workers, Tengku Zafrul said.

“I would like to remind again that with the Wage Subsidy Programme being continued under Penjana, the enhanced programme is open to applications by employers from June 15,” he added.

"Although Malaysia's unemployment rate is expected to increase in the coming months, measures under the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (PRIHATIN) were aimed at reducing the unemployment rate," Tengku Zafrul said.

Malaysia's unemployment rate increased to 5.0% in April due to the closure of several sectors of the economy during the Movement Control Order (MCO) and Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) to contain COVID-19 in March and April.

Human Resources Minister Explains PENJANA Benefits

For comparison, the current unemployment rate in India is 23.5%, the Philippines 17.7%, the United States 13.3%, and China 5.9%. Several European countries are also encountering a double-digit unemployment rate.

"With the Wage Subsidy Programme expanded under PENJANA since June 15, employers can now apply for wage subsidies for their employees who are on unpaid leave.

"With this in mind, coupled with the opening of almost all sectors of the economy, the government is targeting to improve the rate, especially in the third and fourth quarters of this year, InsyaAllah, ” Tengku Zafrul said.

Source: The Star/Bernama

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