Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today reminded Malaysians how Labour Day in the country is celebrated in peace, unlike in some other countries.

"What's interesting is that it is celebrated in peace and harmony, unlike in some countries where it is marred by controversies, confrontations or even riots," said Najib in his speech at the National Labour Day celebration held at Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) today.

This, he said, was the manifestation of the peaceful and close tripartite relations among the workers' union, employers and the government.

Labour Day in Malaysia has traditionally been peaceful, with most employees taking the day off from work.

This is apart from annual Labour Day rallies by workers' groups, which have occasionally been "heated" in the past.

This year's May Day rally was however a subdued affair, with under 300 turnout, a contrast to the crowd estimated at 1,500 last year, and 20,000 the year before.

Meanwhile, Najib in his speech also said the government has been embarking on five workers' transformational leaps, citing among them the national minimum wage policy implemented in 2013.

"For your information, statutory inspections conducted on more than 121,000 employers found that 98 percent have fulfilled requirements for the minimum wage policy, while the balance two percent have been given notices for them to comply."

'Hire locals'

Citing Social Security Organisation's (Socso)'s 'Return to Work' programme implemented since 2007, Najib said the initiative has managed to achieve a 70 percent success rate in assuring insured workers who were involved in accidents return to work.

Najib also confirmed the government was studying the role of JobsMalaysia Centre to ensure that the agency becomes more interactive, effective and customer-friendly.

"Also so that it can play an active role in facilitating job matches between job seekers and employers," he said.

Citing the 2017 Job Fair to be held on May 20 at various Urban Transformation Centres (UTC) in the country, Najib said an expected 20,000 job vacancies will be offered by 300 employers participating in the job fair.

The premier advised employers to prioritise Malaysian employees when hiring.

"Don't find the easy way out by providing jobs to foreign workers only; you must give priority to local workers," he said.

Meanwhile, confirming the tabling of the Employment Insurance System Bill in the next parliamentary sitting, Najib announced that the RM52 million allocated to Socso in the 10th Malaysia Plan will be increased to RM70 million.

Socso has been tasked with the management of the scheme. The scheme is expected to be implemented starting Jan 1, 2018, while payment of the benefits will start a year later.

Touching on the social security scheme for self-employed Malaysians, Najib said the government planned to widen the scope of the scheme in stages to include fishermen, farmers, peddlers and artistes.

"Through this scheme, insured workers will be protected if they are involved in accidents while working, or are suffering from occupational diseases," he added.

Through the Self-Employment Social Security Bill tabled by the Human Resources Ministry in Parliament last month, self-employed individuals will be mandated to contribute to a fund similar to Socso, which currently applies only to salaried workers.