Govt introduces targeted wage subsidy programme

The government is introducing a targeted wage subsidy programme to assist employers and employees in certain sectors which are still affected economically by Covid-19, says Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

The programme, which will open for applications from Oct 1 to Dec 31, is expected to benefit 1.3 million workers and will involve an estimated RM2.4 billion, he said when announcing the Prihatin supplementary initiative package or Kita Prihatin today.

This follows the wage subsidy programme launched earlier under the Prihatin Rakyat economic stimulus package which is set to end on Sept 30.

For the targeted wage subsidy programme, wage subsidies will be given to companies which continue to face lower revenues of at least 30% compared to last year.

The wage subsidy will be given for up to three months at a rate of RM600 per month for each employee, with a maximum of 200 employees per company.

Muhyiddin said based on feedback he had received on the wage subsidy programme, there were those who were not eligible to receive the subsidies as they had not registered with Socso prior to April 1 this year.

“To ensure that this group is not left behind, the targeted wage subsidy programme will be open for companies registered with Socso prior to Sept 1, 2020.

“New applicants who have not received the wage subsidy prior to this will now be eligible to receive the wage subsidy for up to six months,” he said.

The prime minister said the wage subsidy programme introduced during the movement control order period had provided assistance to employers without requiring small companies to show loss of revenue.

“With the transition to the implementation of the recovery MCO, most companies are now able to operate and conduct business actively,” he added.