Personal Finance Term
SOCSO / PERKESO
Social Security Organisation
A government scheme that protects employees against workplace injury, occupational disease, and invalidity through monthly employer and employee contributions. It provides medical care, disability pensions, and survivor benefits.
SOCSO (PERKESO) runs two main schemes: the Employment Injury Scheme, which covers accidents at work, commuting accidents, and occupational diseases; and the Invalidity Scheme, which pays a pension if you become permanently unable to work from any cause before retirement age. Benefits include medical treatment, temporary and permanent disablement payments, a dependants' benefit if a worker dies, and rehabilitation. Contributions are a small percentage of wages, mostly borne by the employer.
For most employees, SOCSO is a valuable baseline of protection that sits beneath any private insurance you buy. It is separate from EPF (retirement savings) and from EIS (job-loss benefits), though all three are administered for the same workforce. Registration is automatic through your employer, and you can check your contribution record and submit claims through the PERKESO Assist portal.