Malaysia charts next steps in widening social protection to foreign workers
With support from the European Union and ILO, Malaysia’s PERKESO aims to further expand social protection coverage, targeting hard-to-reach groups, including domestic workers and fishers.
17 June 2025
KUALA LUMPUR (ILO News) – Further extending social security coverage to foreign workers in Malaysia will improve the sustainability of existing schemes while delivering positive economic, employment and protection impacts, according to participants at a workshop held in Kuala Lumpur on 17 June 2025, organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO) with support from the European Union.
During the event, titled “Extending Social Security Coverage and Benefits to Foreign Workers in Malaysia” the Social Security Organisation of Malaysia (PERKESO) shared its success in extending coverage to foreign workers, which has now reached over 85 per cent per cent of those who are legally registered.
Participants considered challenges and practical approaches to further increase coverage, in both existing as well as new schemes. To this end, a practical roadmap that outlines actions to expand coverage, particularly for hard-to-reach groups such as domestic workers and fishers, was discussed.
Representatives of the Malaysian government, workers’ and employers’ organizations, the European Union and UN agencies took part in the event.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr Edmund Cheong, Deputy Chief Executive (Strategic and Corporate) of PERKESO, emphasized that actuarial valuation work carried out under the ILO PERKESO actuarial project highlighted the financial benefits of extension of coverage and positive impacts of adequacy improvements of PERKESO schemes.
“Since July 2024, foreign workers have been covered under the invalidity and survivors’ scheme managed by PERKESO. This very welcome development was able to build on the clear and documented positive outcome of their inclusion under the Employment Injury scheme from 2019,” he said.
Simon Brimblecombe, Chief Technical Adviser and Manager of the ILO PERKESO project added that, “Whilst challenges remain in further increasing foreign worker coverage in PERKESO schemes, as Malaysia’s population ages, the financial and labour market case to do so is clear. The ILO congratulates PERKESO and the Government of Malaysia on the positive measures taken in recent years which show what can be done and the benefits to the country.”
Joanna Wasiewska, First Counsellor at the EU Delegation to Malaysia, pointed out the opportunities for extending social security coverage to foreign workers: “Malaysia has made major progress in extending social security coverage to its foreign workforce in recent years. However, many workers are still unable to fully benefit due to practical barriers. Establishing effective monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, as well as providing accessible information to hard-to-reach groups such as domestic workers, fishers and their employers on social security rights can help to ensure these workers are not left behind.”
The workshop was organized with the support of the Ensuring Decent Work and Reducing Vulnerabilities for Women and Children in the Context of Labour Migration in Southeast Asia (PROTECT) and the Ship to Shore Rights South-East Asia: Safe migration for decent work in the blue economy (S2SR) projects which are both funded by the European Union.