Foreign workers in Malaysia are covered and entitled to the same work-related injury benefits as the national workers

As of 1 January 2019, foreign workers’ in Malaysia are covered and entitled to the same work-related injury benefits as the national workers aiming to advance towards equal treatment of migrant workers and national workers.

News | 29 November 2019
ILO Global Programme on Employment Injury Insurance and Protection participated in an ILO direct contacts mission during 14-18 October 2019 with a view to implementing the Committee on the Application of Standards (CAS) recommendations for equal treatment and to develop mechanisms for overcoming the practical issues affecting the implementation of the domestic social security scheme to foreign workers.

Malaysia Peninsular and Sarawak have ratified the Equality of Treatment (Accident Compensation) Convention, 1925 (No. 19) on 11 November 1957 and 3 March 1954 respectively. In 1996, the Committee on the Application of Standards (CAS) of the International Labour Conference (ILC) examined the application of the Convention by Malaysia for the first time. The examination followed the transfer of foreign workers employed in Malaysia for up to five years from the coverage of the Employees’ Social Security Scheme (ESSS) to that of the Foreign Workers Compensation Scheme (FWCS) in 1993. The benefits provided under the FWCS were significantly different from those provided under the ESSS, leading the CAS to raise the divergence of the national law and practice with the provisions of the Convention, which establishes the principle of equality of treatment between foreign workers and national workers without conditions of residence. Since 1996, the Committee of Experts on the Applications of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) and the CAS have continuously requested that foreign workers be transferred back to the ESSS, to give full effect to the Convention.

As of 1 January 2019, foreign workers’ protection related to work-related injury moved from the scope of the Foreign Workers’ Compensation Scheme under the Workmen’s Compensation (Foreign Workers’ Compensation Scheme) (Insurance) Order 2005 to the ESSS administered under the Employees Social Security Act (ESSA). Except for specific exclusions mentioned in its First Schedule, the ESSA does not make any difference between national and non-national workers as to their coverage and entitlement to work-related injury benefits. The extension of the ESSS to foreign workers shows the willingness of the Government to act upon the CAS’ recommendations. The effective implementation of the coverage extension is underway, with a transition period planned to end no later than 31 December 2019.