SERIAN: The implementation of the Employment Insurance System (EIS) is long overdue, said Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri (Dr) Richard Riot in a recent meeting with leading media groups in Kuala Lumpur.
The government is now looking at media practitioners to help create a secured feeling and a sense of urgency among the people and the stakeholders to bring it on. According to a media statement issued here yesterday, Riot said EIS needs to be fully understood, in particular by the people who should see how they could benefit from it. Unfortunately, he said information on the EIS had been lacking, apparently due to little or lack of media exposure.
“I want to appeal to all the media people, be it print, electronic, broadcasting or online, to help tell Malaysians that EIS seeks to ensure that if they lose their job, they will not have to worry about their food and basic bills because the government will take care of these through the EIS,” he said.
According to Riot, last March the government had agreed with the proposal to implement EIS and subsequently the EIS Bill 2017 was formulated, and should have been tabled for the second reading in Parliament last August. The Cabinet decided to postpone the second reading because of pressure from employers’ associations and internal bickering among workers’ groups.
“The Cabinet had also directed the Second Minister of Finance, two mini s ter s in the Pr ime Minister ’s Depar tment and I myself to conduct a tripartite engagement session with stakeholders,” Riot explained. He elaborated at the engagement session held on Aug 10 employers and workers groups unanimously agreed that the EIS would be implemented with a reduced contribution rate, from 1% to 0.4%. “The Cabinet endorsed the decision and instructed that the EIS Bill be tabled in Parliament later this month,” he said.
Riot said he was confident that in the interest of the rakyat, the EIS Bill will get through its second reading. “We should allow the EIS to take off first, then if changes are necessary, they will be made accordingly in due time. “For example, South Korea has made 28 major changes to its EIS law since it was first introduced in 1995,” he reiterated.
According to Riot, the formulation of the EIS policy had been deliberated at great length in many forums involving the various stakeholders, starting way back in 2008. “The Mini s t r y of Huma n Resources and Socso had engaged extensively with tripartite partners, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and international experts from several countries. “We even brought representatives from employers and workers groups to visit several EIS implementing countries in order to understand the system better and design our own EIS policy.
“Prior to the Cabinet approval for the EIS Bill in July 2017, we had already presented the proposed model of the EIS to the Economic Council four times and twice to the Cabinet,” Riot explained. “Now the government wants the rakyat to fully understand this insurance policy that we are trying to create for them, and the most effective way for us to get the message through to them is through the media. “Please convey to the rakyat, EIS is there to help them in time of need, in time of a job lost. “I believe in the power of the media – print, electronic, broadcasting and online. We need your help to reach out to all Malaysians,” Riot said.
Earlier Riot launched the one day Asean Productivity-linked Wage Conference (Asean-PLIC) which was attended by 250 participants consisting of senior officials from members of Asean and representatives of employers and workers groups. Also attending were representatives of the governments of Japan, South Korea and China. The conference will develop and adopt an outcome document called Recommendations of Asean-PLIC, which will be based on discussions of three thematic sessions.
The recommendations will be communicated to the Asean Senior Labor Officials Meeting (SLOM) for further deliberation, and subsequently to contribute towards realizing the objectives of the Asean Labor Sector Work Programme 2016-2020. The free online CSS cleaner allows you to organize style for websites.
