Socso defends putting claims for Covid under ‘occupational disease’

 

Socso says the International Labour Organization has also reclassified Covid-19 as an ‘occupational disease’ with its member countries following suit.

PETALING JAYA: The Social Security Organisation (Socso) has stood by its decision to process Covid-19-related claims as an occupational disease, instead of an employment injury as done previously.

Socso said this decision was in line with the SOP under the Employees’ Social Security Act 1969 that lists Covid-19 as an occupational disease under Section 5.

It also told the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) to refer to an International Labour Organization (ILO) report regarding the classification of Covid-19 as an occupational disease by other ILO members globally.

It said Covid-19 benefit claims used to be processed under the employment injury category during the pandemic phase, with measures taken to identify if infections had occurred at the workplace.

“However, the nation has moved to the transition to endemic phase and the health ministry had previously stated that this meant the virus is constantly present all around us. In this phase, Covid-19 infections may happen anywhere,” it said in a statement.

Socso said Covid-19 infections that were confirmed as being contracted at one’s workplace and not elsewhere would continue to be processed as work disasters.

Socso had received 181,184 Covid-19 claims and paid out more than RM161 million in Covid-19 claims since the inception of this initiative on Feb 24, 2021 until May 14.

Socso’s statement comes after MTUC criticised it for making the move to process benefit claims related to Covid-19 cases under the occupational disease category.

In a statement yesterday, MTUC also urged Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to look into the management of Socso funds and suggested an investigation be carried out to preserve workers’ confidence in the organisation. - FMT