Gov't to introduce 3-month salary subsidy scheme, no job or salary cuts

CORONAVIRUS | Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today announced that the government will introduce an RM5.9 billion salary subsidy programme to prevent loss of jobs and earnings in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.

In announcing his RM250 billion Prihatin economic stimulus package, the premier said the government would set aside an RM600 monthly pay, for three months, for all workers earning below RM4,000.

The programme would also apply to employers experiencing loss of income of more than 50 percent since Jan 1, 2020.

As such, Muhyiddin said employers are not permitted to slash workers’ salaries.

“In these hard times, I do not want to see workers losing jobs and income.

“[...] employers must ensure they do not fire workers or instruct them to take unpaid leave for three months once the programme is implemented. Employers are also not allowed to cut the existing salaries of their workers,” he said in his live televised address.

The measure is expected to benefit some 3.3 million workers.

Full-time e-hailing drivers affected by the four-week long movement control order (MCO) which began on March 18 are to be accorded a one-off payment of RM500 each.

This will benefit 120,000 drivers at an accumulative cost of RM60 million.

It was announced in the previous economic package that taxi drivers would be given a one-off RM600 payment from April 1.

Under the scheme, further, the Perikatan Nasional government will also pay the salaries borne by contractors throughout the MCO for workers with service contracts in public institutions, even if they do not go to work.

This includes those providing cleaning, food preparation and other services for schools, institutions of higher learning, training institutes and other agencies.

Muhyiddin said the government will set aside RM110 million for this initiative which will benefit 80,000 workers.

“The government had agreed to also extend the service contract period for a month as a trade-off for the MCO,” said the prime minister.

Meanwhile, he also announced that under the Prihatin stimulus package, the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) will introduce an Employer Negotiation Service on April 15.

The service will cover matters concerning payments postponement as well as the restructuring and rescheduling of employers' contributions.

This is to allow employers to save cash flow of up to an estimated RM10 billion and benefit up to 480,000 Private Retirement Schemes' (PRS) members and companies as well as eight million workers.

Keep up with the latest information on the outbreak in the country with Malaysiakini's free Covid-19 tracker. Malaysiakini is providing free access to the most important updates on the coronavirus pandemic. You can find them here.   

Free Internet package from April until end of MCO

PM announces RM10b cash handouts for B40, M40 starting April

Economists: Extraordinary stimulus needed to save jobs and the vulnerable

Trust the gov't to revive the economy, says Mustapa