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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Socso shortchanging private sector

Too much red tape making it nearly impossible for employees to be adequately compensated.

IPOH: The Social Security Organisation (Socso) was taken to task for its insensitivity in addressing the grievances of private sector employees injured during the course of their duties.

DAP national vice-chief M Kulasegaran said Socso has diverted from its original duty to help those in the private sector to get compensation for injuries incurred during office hours.

“Instead of looking after the welfare of injured workers, it (Socso) has chosen to be business-minded to delay or deny the application of injured workers,” said Kulasegaran.

“There is also so much of red tape that it makes it difficult or nearly impossible for private sector employees to be adequately compensated.”

“Socso springs into action when collecting contributions from both the employers and employees but drags its feet when it comes to paying out claims,” said Kulasegaran.
“Employers in the private sector are penalised when they fail to make contributions, but who is there to question Socso when it fails in its duties to compensate injured workers?” asked Kulasegaran, who is also Ipoh Barat MP.

He urged the human resources ministry to simplify procedures and cut out the cumbersome red tape which discouraged many from making applications for compensation.

He pointed out that Malaysia has copied the Socso system from England which does not have an age limit for claiming compensation.

However, the Malaysian version has set the age limit at 55 for such claims, which is considered as the retirement age limit for workers in the private sector.

Kulasegaran asked why the retirement age of private sector employees is not raised on par with the civil sector’s retirement age which has been raised to 58.

“What happens when an employee who is exposed to occupational diseases during his working days but upon retirement finds, say, at the age of 60, that he has cancer or other life-threatening diseases?” he asked.

Keep tabs on workers

Kulasegaran wants Socso to ensure that management keep tabs on workers from the age of 40, and that employers inform the workers of their health status on a regular basis.

He said this move was to ensure that private sector employees are aware of their health condition to take the necessary remedial measures before they retire.

He was commenting on an 58-year-old former mechanical supervisor V Chinasamy who suffered back injuries during the course of his work but was not compensated by Socso.

Chinasamy has filed his appeal in the Ipoh High Court and his lawyer A Sivanesan related the background of his client’s history.

On Feb 6, 1998, Chinasamy suffered a back injury during a fall at his work site and was put on light duty. He had to undergo an operation at Klang General Hospital on Oct 6, 2008.

He was given a long medical leave and applied to Socso’s medical board for invalidity benefits but was retired on Jan 11, 2009 while still on medical leave.

On Jan 16, 2009, the board declared that he was not eligible for the benefits and his application for invalidity pension was also rejected.

Chinasamy, who was drawing a monthly salary of RM5,700, then filed an appeal before senior assistant registrar Noor Akmal Mustapha who fixed the case for mention on March 8. - FMT

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