WAGE subsidies for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that employ about 4.8 million workers can help reduce retrenchments caused by the impact of Covid-19, said the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF).

MEF executive director Shamsudin Bardan said the additional stimulus announced by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was “very much welcomed’.

Under the special stimulus, companies with employees that have monthly salaries below RM4,000 can apply for the wage subsidy programme, the prime minister announced. 

Companies with 200 or more workers will be eligible for a RM600 wage subsidy per worker, while companies that employ between 76 and 200 workers will be eligible for a RM800 wage subsidy. 

Companies that employ between one and 75 employees will be eligible for a RM800 wage subsidy. 

“Hopefully, all these initiatives for the benefit of employers would be able to reduce retrenchments in future. This is a sharing of the responsibility to reduce the effects of the movement-control order (MCO),” said Shamsudin. 

“Previously, the government insisted employers pay the full wages. We thought there ought to be more sharing of the burden due to the MCO. 

“The employers, the government and the workers must jointly share the burden,” he said. 

Shamsudin also welcomed Putrajaya’s green light for employers to enter into talks with workers, with the guidance of the Labour Department. 

“There have been accusations that employers are only concerned about maximising profits. This is a misplaced notion as we are not even talking about profits. We are talking about survival. 

“If employers are not able to survive this, then of course employees will lose the jobs and at the end of the day, everyone suffers.” – April 6, 2020.