Workmen’s Compensation Act 1952 will be abolished, says Kula

Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran says with foreign workers coming under Socso, his ministry will have better data on the number of foreign workers and their employers.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Workmen’s Compensation Act 1952 will be abolished so that local and foreign workers in the country can get equal protection, said Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran.

He said the move was in line with the government’s commitment to enhance protection for foreign workers who currently come under the Foreign Workers Compensation Scheme under the Act.

“This is important because we want to be fair to both local and foreign workers.

“This is also the requirement of the convention that we agreed upon with the International Labour Organisation,” he said after the closing of the 25th Asean Labour Ministers’ Meeting by Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

He said this when asked to elaborate on the decision of the Cabinet to give social security protection to foreign workers under the Social Security Organisation (Socso) from Jan 1.

Kula said the abolition of the act was to facilitate transfer of protection of foreign workers from the scheme under the Workers Compensation Act to Socso.

The government would now have a more efficient protection control system, he said.

“We will have better data as we will know in immediate terms the number of foreign workers, the jobs and sectors they are in, and information on their employers and the companies they work for.

“This will make it possible to know if employers are making the necessary contributions. If they do not, we can tell the Immigration Department to look for them and take necessary action.”

He said with the act to be abolished, the foreign workers compensation scheme would no longer be activated for renewal and registration of foreign workers. -FMT