LINDUNG 24 Jam closes a long-standing protection gap and strengthens the social safety net for millions of Malaysian workers and their families.
Recent discussions on PERKESO’s LINDUNG 24 Jam have focused on what the scheme does not cover, particularly illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension and other medical conditions.
While these questions are understandable, they risk overlooking a more important question: what gap was LINDUNG 24 Jam created to address?
LINDUNG 24 Jam was introduced to close the last major gap in protection for Malaysian workers in the formal sector.
For many years, Malaysia’s social security system has protected workers against two major risks. First, workers are protected against employment-related accidents through PERKESO’s Employment Injury Scheme. If a worker suffers an accident while performing his duties or while commuting to and from work, he is protected under the law.
Second, workers are protected against invalidity arising from serious illnesses and medical conditions through PERKESO’s Invalidity Scheme. Workers who suffer from qualifying medical conditions that result in permanent invalidity and loss of earning capacity may receive long-term protection under this scheme.
However, there has always been a protection gap.
What happens when a worker suffers an accident that has nothing to do with work? A road accident while travelling home during a festive season, a serious fall at home, an injury sustained during recreational activities, or an accident while carrying out daily family responsibilities can all have severe consequences. Yet many of these incidents have traditionally fallen outside the scope of existing employment injury protection because they are not work-related.
The consequences, however, are no different. A worker may be unable to work, lose income, require medical treatment and rehabilitation, and place significant financial strain on the family.
This is precisely why LINDUNG 24 Jam was introduced.
The scheme extends social security protection to accidents occurring outside the course of employment, ensuring that workers receive protection not only while at work, but throughout their daily lives.
Seen in this context, LINDUNG 24 Jam is not replacing existing protection. It is completing it.
Today, Malaysia’s social security framework protects workers against three major risks: employment-related accidents through the Employment Injury Scheme, invalidity arising from serious illnesses through the Invalidity Scheme, and now non-work-related accidents through LINDUNG 24 Jam.
This means that a worker who suffers an accident at work is protected. A worker who becomes permanently invalid due to a qualifying illness is protected. And now, a worker who suffers an accident outside work is also protected.
Far from reducing protection, LINDUNG 24 Jam expands it. It closes a long-standing protection gap and strengthens the social safety net for millions of Malaysian workers and their families.
The introduction of LINDUNG 24 Jam means that, for the first time, Malaysian workers are protected not only against accidents at work and invalidity due to illness, but also against accidents that occur during everyday life.
It closes a gap that has existed for decades and represents another important step forward in building a stronger, more comprehensive and more inclusive social security system for all workers.
