Employers Can Claim RM150 For Workers’ Covid-19 Screening: HR Ministry

The PSP Perkeso scheme will also increase the number of Covid-19 screening service providers.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — The Social Security Organisation (Socso) is subsidising employers for their workers’ Covid-19 screenings effective today, the Human Resources Ministry announced.

Under the Prihatin Screening Programme (PSP) Perkeso scheme, employers are allowed to claim a subsidy of RM150 for each screening, with a condition that the workers are Socso contributors. This subsidy programme will utilise the previously approved RM200 million allocation from Socso.

Foreign workers in the construction and security services sectors in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur will be prioritised for the Covid-19 screening, while for workers not in the target group, their employers are to bear the cost of the testing.

“Employers can send their workers to undergo screening at any clinics or hospitals approved by the Ministry of Health,” said Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan in a statement.

Before this, Senior Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob instructed employers to pay for their foreign workers’ Covid-19 screening. But that suggestion was opposed strongly by employers, who said the government should bear the cost.

At the same time, the Human Resources, Health, and Works Ministries have agreed that PSP Perkeso should appoint more Covid-19 screening service providers.

Earlier, in Selangor, the country’s most developed state, just six diagnostic centres for the first phase of Socso’s PSP programme were listed — BP Diagnostic (Klang), BP Specialist Center (Glenmarie), BP Diagnostic (Rawang), BP Diagnostic (Subang Jaya), BP Diagnostic (Seri Kembangan), BP Diagnostic Centre Sdn Bhd (Kajang).

The expansion of the scope of PSP Perkeso through the Covid-19 screening subsidy will take effect from today. The procedure of the subsidy programme will be updated from time to time at the Prihatin Portal.

The Ministry of Health has been reporting increasing numbers of coronavirus infections among foreign workers. Yesterday saw 43 new cases among immigrants, including three workers’ clusters in Pahang comprising 15 cases.

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