In Malaysia, private sector employers are mandatorily required to make retirement contributions on behalf of employees to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF). However, many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have failed to comply with the law since they do not have a proper payroll management system in place.

The EPF has developed a free basic payroll solution that is available to all private sector employers:

Back Protection and Rehabilitation Programme (BPRP) is a dynamic and proactive solution to control and manage the commonest musculoskeletal disorders at the workplace, which is backache or low back pain. The main objective is to reduce the incidence and impact of back pain, prevent worsening of disability, reduce the disability period, and finally retain skilled workers affected in the workforce.

ELYA, abbreviation for “EPF Loves You Always”, was invented to reduce drop calls at Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Contact Centre of Malaysia and to empower customers with self-service facilities in a conversational approach. This is the first bilingual Virtual Assistant (VA) for social security organisation powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) using Natural Language Processing (NLP) and supported by Live Chat. The inspiration to create ELYA’s outgoing persona is a culmination of EPF staff’s personalities and passion to help customers from different walks of life.

Expanding its services from assisting up to 1,200 jobseekers with employment injuries or illnesses annually in 2008, Social Security Organization (SOCSO) now delivers employment services to all categories of job seekers in Malaysia through the establishment of the MYFutureJobs National Employment Services, a framework similar to the Public Employment Services defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The Medical Board of the Social Security Organization (SOCSO) is a group of medical professionals that is responsible for performing impairment evaluation and determining the social security benefits due to employment injury or invalidity filed by Malaysian employees (insured persons) with SOCSO.

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, the whole country’s government mechanism is mobilised to manage the impact of the pandemic. The Social Security Organization (SOCSO) of Malaysia plays its role in the social security and provides economic stimulus for the country.

In March 2020, the coronavirus pandemic broke out in Israel.

What began as a health crisis soon turned into an economic crisis, which led many workers to go on forced unpaid leave and went to the National Insurance Institute (NII) for assistance. There was a need to find creative solutions within the limits of the law and the data available to the NII, and to find workable and quick solutions that would allow the payment of unemployment benefits to unpaid workers.

Since 1996, the Members Investment Scheme (MIS) has provided an option for members of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) of Malaysia to divert retirement savings to investments outside EPF for the purpose of maximising their retirement savings. These investments are managed by third-party Fund Management Institutions (FMIs), and promoted through their agents.

The use of robots in rehabilitation has widened the treatment options and improved the outcomes for patients with neurological disabilities. These devices promote functional recovery of the upper or lower limb movements through neuroplasticity and motor relearning processes. The cybernic treatment combines interactions between man, machine and information to improve, enhance and support the wearer’s limb mobility function. It regenerates the patient’s own brain-neuro-physical functions through the signal interactions between human and robot.

Malaysia, which prioritises the welfare of its people, provides various benefits and assistance to the citizens through government and non-governmental organisations. Despite this, poverty still exists and the high cost of living is a burden to the B40 group – the bottom 40 per cent of households with monthly income of 3,900 Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) and below.

The Commuting Safety Support Program (CSSP) was introduced in 2017 by the Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) in collaboration with the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS). The program aims to facilitate employers’ implementation of commuting safety at the workplace through practical intervention. It aims to reduce motorcyclist accidents and was initiated through partnership with various stakeholders. Improvements in commuting safety positively impact on working conditions, productivity, economic and social development.

Integrated System for Prosthetics and Orthotics, Inventory and Rehabilitation (INSPIRE) was introduced to manage the rehabilitation facilities of the Social Security Organization (SOCSO) of Malaysia through a web-based platform to ensure continuity and provision of rehabilitation benefits to SOCSO insured persons.

As part of the social security establishment, it is a statutory requirement that every qualified employee should be registered by a registered and qualified employer. Apparently, there are still employers who fail to register their employees. The failure by employers to register their employees will result in the non-coverage of the employees, unfairly depriving them of social security coverage and benefits in the event that they were to become unfit to work or worse, if they were to suffer permanent disability or invalidity.

Industrial and commuting accidents in Malaysia continue to be a burden to the working population, most especially road accidents related to their occupations. Prompt treatment of the injuries is of the essence to ensure better clinical prognosis and outcome, reduction of disability and continued employability of the contributors. However, in several cases the provision of the surgical implants during acute treatment maybe prolonged due to financial hurdles or processing delays when claiming from the social security organization.

The issue of inadequate savings faced by the members of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) coupled with a low level of financial literacy demonstrate the urgent need to enhance the knowledge and skills in financial and retirement planning among Malaysians.

Malaysia is experiencing an increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The Social Security Organization (SOCSO) had noted an increase in the number of claims made for invalidity and survivors' pensions due to NCDs, and the impact may continue to rise even further.

In early 2000 the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) adopted a quick-fix to headhunt talent to achieve and sustain breakthrough performance in the short run. Now a long-term strategy is employed to ensure that internal talent is identified and nurtured to provide a steady flow of talent to fill key positions and provide critical skills. The organization wants to ensure 20 per cent of the executive workforce, selected on merit-based criteria, undertakes a structured strategic leadership programme to create a pipeline of talent to fill the organization's needs.

The strategy comprises four CA prevention programmes to face the increase in commuting accidents, namely:

One of the key areas under IT governance is in the area of IT project and portfolio management processes which will be used to help JTM to align IT initiatives closely with business objectives. In order to achieve this, JTM needs a structured approach in IT investment planning, prioritization, selection, project tracking and reporting. JTM also manages request demands from business users and maintenance of the existing systems and applications via one of the functionality in the IT Portfolio Management tool.

The Employees Provident Fund's (EPF) vision is to be the best Social Security organization in the world and the best government agency in Malaysia. To help realize this vision, the IT Department has to ensure that the IT Operations are ever ready to support the Business Needs and Requirements. As a major contributor to EPF's operational and management efficiency and effectiveness, the IT Department has adopted best practice IT Service Management based on ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) V3. The ITIL Implementation Project in EPF was kicked-off in June 2008.

SOCSO believes that financial compensation alone is not "social security" and will not guarantee social well-being. However a bio-psychosocial rehabilitation programme together with proper coordination in compensation and prevention through systematic case management will be able to promote job retention, re-employment and social reintegration for workers who suffer from employment injuries and invalidity.

A structured risk management framework aids its decision making process by taking account of uncertainty and the effect on achieving objectives and assessing the need for any actions. Structured risk management enables EPF to practice good corporate governance and strengthen its competitive strategic and operational efficiency.