Awareness level among gig workers on the importance of having social and financial protection is still low, as only 7% or 28,425 gig economy workers are registered with the Social Security Organisation (Socso) so far.
Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz (picture) said the government hopes that more workers will contribute to Socso to benefit from the protection provided under the short-term National Economy Recovery Plan (Penjana) Gig.
“According to Socso, from January 2020 until now, only 28,425 (7%) gig economy workers out of their target of 400,000 workers are registered with Socso,” he said when presenting the 11th report of the Prihatin Rakyat economic stimulus package and Penjana yesterday.
“At a cost of RM232.80 annually, the government subsidises 70% (RM163) and 30% (RM69.80) is provided by the platform provider,” he added.
To promote the gig economy and provide a social safety net system for the gig economy and informal sector workforce, the minister said the government would facilitate policies to support the growth of the gig economy and the welfare of its workers through several initiatives and funds under Penjana.
The funds include a matching grant of up to RM50 million for gig economy platforms who contribute to their gig workers towards Socso’s employment injury scheme of up to RM162 and Employees Provident Fund’s (EPF) i-Saraan contribution of up to RM250 yearly.
Additionally, there would be RM25 million for the Malaysia Digital Economy Corp’s (MDEC) Global Online Workforce (GLOW) programme, which will train Malaysians to earn income from serving international clients while working from home online.
Tengku Zafrul said he has also had the opportunity to meet with some of the workers and employers who benefitted from the Penjana Gig Programme and its social security.
“Under the Penjana Gig initiative, several engagement sessions were held with agriculture, hawkers, passenger transportation, goods and food sectors, and over 38 gig platform service providers.
“Alhamdulillah (God willing), the assistance received was effective and has helped to ease the burden of business cashflow, as well as save jobs,” he explained.
My30 Programme and PenjanaKerjaya
Highlighting other Penjana initiatives, Tengku Zafrul shared that as at June 30, a total of 77,790 of My30 unlimited monthly travel passes for commuters in the Klang Valley had been sold.
“The government’s subsidy for these passes is valued at RM13.2 million,” he said.
Secondly, as of July 6, 2020, the PenjanaKerjaya, which is the hiring incentive and training assistance programme, with a government allocation of RM1.5 billion, have seen 106,308 job vacancies advertised, and 123,919 job seekers were registered through the MYFutureJobs initiative.
Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN)
Achieved a 97.5% implementation rate, with the total number of BPN recipients stood at 10.25 million, valuing at RM10.92 billion.
Between June 26 and July 6, around 30,000 BPN recipients received their payments via Bank Simpanan Nasional branches nationwide. As for the BPN appellants group, 140,000 single individuals and households had received the BPN assistance amounting to RM120 million from an allocation of RM139 million.
Cash Incentives for Taxi Drivers, Tour Guides and Tour Bus Drivers
As at July 6, the government had assisted 28,962 taxi drivers amounting to RM17.4 million for recipients from the first phase.
For the second phase recipients, the appeal date was closed on July 1, and the appeals are currently under review with payment expected to be made in mid-July.
Additionally, 7,414 tour guides received RM4.4 million cash aid. The status of tour bus drivers are still being updated and the result will be announced by the end of this month.
Prihatin Special Grant for Micro SMEs
Total disbursement as of Monday was approximately RM1.63 billion, benefitting 544,632 Micro small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Wage Subsidy Programme
RM7.15 billion had been approved for 310,622 employers benefitting more than 2.48 million employees up till this week.
Socso has been entrusted with the implementation of RM17 billion worth of measures.
EPF’s Covid-19 Assistance Programme
Has seen 37,900 receivers and 10,528 applications approved, amounting to RM70.4 million in terms of employers’ contribution.
SME Soft Loan Funds
Administered by Bank Negara Malaysia, the fund have had total financing amounting to RM8.7 billion approved by local banks and officially accepted by SMEs, and this has benefitted 20,104 SMEs.
Loan Repayment Moratorium by Financial Institutions
The moratorium, which took effect on April 1, 2020, has an estimated value of RM51.4 billion as of this week.
Out of this figure, a total of RM17.9 billion was utilised by the business sector while the remaining was utilised by the rakyat.
Source: https://themalaysianreserve.com/2020/07/09/only-7-gig-economy-workers-are-registered-with-socso/