(TAX UPDATE) Lindung 24 Jam Just Turned Voluntary. Here Is What Your Payroll and Your Paperwork Must Do Now

Introduction

You ran June payroll like any other month. A new line showed up on every payslip, 0.75% for Lindung 24 Jam, and your staff spotted the smaller net pay before you had finished the run. Six weeks later, the rule moved under your feet.

On 8 July 2026, the Cabinet decided that contributions to PERKESO's Lindung 24 Jam scheme would no longer be mandatory for local workers. Voluntary, with immediate effect.

The next day, the Human Resources Minister confirmed the detail that matters most for anyone running a mixed workforce: the change applies to local employees only. For foreign workers, the scheme stays compulsory under existing law.

So the question landing on your desk is not "is it on or off." It is "who is in, who is out, and what do I keep on file."

First, what the scheme actually is

Lindung 24 Jam is the marketing name. The legal name is Skim Kemalangan Bukan Bencana Kerja, SKBBK. It sits under the Employees' Social Security Act 1969, Act 4, and was brought in by the Employees' Social Security (Amendment) Act 2026, Act A1788. It took effect for contributions from 1 June 2026.

The idea is simple. Ordinary SOCSO coverage centres on accidents at work and on the recognised journey to and from work. SKBBK extends protection to accidents that happen outside working hours anywhere in Malaysia, at home, on the road on a Sunday, on the football field on a rest day. It covers accidents, not illness, and not incidents outside the country.

The contribution is borne entirely by the employee. You, the employer, do not pay a sen towards SKBBK. Your legal role is to deduct the correct amount, show it on the payslip, and remit it to PERKESO with your normal SOCSO and EIS payments.

The rate is phased. In this first phase, from 1 June 2026 to 31 May 2028, it is 0.75% of wages, subject to the RM6,000 monthly wage ceiling. At the ceiling, the maximum SKBBK deduction is about RM45 a month.

The Act sets later steps to 1.00% and then 1.25%. PERKESO has not yet clarified how those later steps will apply to workers who now contribute on a voluntary basis, so treat the future rate for opt-in staff as a point to confirm rather than a settled number.

Second, what actually changed on 8 to 13 July

Three things, in sequence.

The Cabinet made SKBBK voluntary for local employees, effective immediately. The Human Resources Minister then confirmed foreign workers stay in, no opt-out. PERKESO followed with the practical mechanism: an online opt-out facility available from Monday, 13 July 2026, backed by a form.

That form is the part you cannot skip. A local worker who wants out must complete a Liability Release Declaration, the Perakuan Pelepasan Liabiliti. Because SKBBK is enforced under Act 4, a contributor cannot simply stop.

They must be formally exempted from the scheme's application, and the declaration is what does that. PERKESO has been direct about why it exists. If a worker opts out and later suffers an accident outside working hours, the signed declaration is the legal basis that releases the employer and PERKESO from a claim. No form, no clean release.

Third, the June money is gone, and that is correct

Some of your staff will ask for June back. The answer is no, and you should not try to reverse it in your books.

June contributions were live coverage. For the month they were paid, your employees were protected around the clock, and PERKESO has reported real claims flowing already, an average of about 27 cases a day and close to RM2 million paid out in the scheme's first month. June deductions are retained as paid. The June remittance still falls due to PERKESO by 15 July 2026 in the normal cycle. Pay it, record it, and move the voluntary treatment forward from the July cycle.

What this means for your firm, in practice

This is where an SME employer either handles it cleanly or creates a problem for next year's audit and next year's PERKESO reconciliation.

Treat it as a per-employee setting, not a company-wide switch. Your payroll now runs on two tiers in the same monthly cycle. Foreign employees stay in SKBBK, mandatory. Local employees are in only if they choose to be. A payroll system that treats SKBBK as one company-wide toggle cannot express that. A system that configures statutory items per employee absorbs it as a routine change.

Collect and keep the declarations. For every local worker who opts out, the completed Liability Release Declaration is the document that protects you. File it the way you would file any statutory record, retrievable, dated, tied to the employee. If a dispute ever arises over a non-work accident, that piece of paper is your defence.

Stop the deduction only once the opt-out is properly processed. The instruction runs both ways. Do not keep deducting from a worker who has validly opted out, and do not stop deducting until the release is in hand and the opt-out is registered. Both errors are correctable, but both are avoidable.

Communicate before the payslip does. Your staff saw a deduction appear in June without much warning. Do not let the reversal be equally silent. A short note explaining that June was valid coverage, that they now have a choice, and that opting out means giving up the off-work protection, is worth more than a dozen queries at the counter.

What is still moving

Two things are not yet fixed, and honest advice says so.

PERKESO's full voluntary registration and opt-out mechanism was still being rolled out as this was written. The online facility is live from 13 July, but the fine detail of the process, and the treatment of the later phased rates for voluntary contributors, should be checked against the official PERKESO portal rather than assumed.

The scheme is also under review. The Human Resources Ministry and PERKESO have said they will study the implementation, sustainability, and funding of SKBBK and report to the government by the end of 2026. In plain terms, the rule that changed once in six weeks can change again. Build your process to absorb that, do not hard-code it.

KTP's View

The headline reads like relief, a deduction removed, take-home pay restored. Read it as an employer and it is really a documentation duty dressed as a concession.

The money question is small, about RM45 a month at the ceiling. The exposure question is not. A local worker who opts out has traded away real off-work accident protection, and the only thing standing between you and a future claim is a form filled in correctly and filed properly. So do three things. Run your payroll per employee, not per company. Capture every Liability Release Declaration and keep it where you can find it. Leave June alone.

Then wait for the year-end review before you assume any of this is permanent. The safest position is not "opt everyone out to save the deduction." It is "let each worker decide, document the decision, and keep the record clean." That is the version that survives an audit, a PERKESO reconciliation, and a bad day when someone gets hurt on a Sunday.

If you want, we can prepare a one-page internal note for your HR team and a standard filing checklist for the release declarations, so the paperwork side is closed before your next payroll run.

This article is general information for Malaysian employers, current as at 13 July 2026. It is not advice on any specific employee, payroll, or dispute. Rates, deadlines, and the opt-out mechanism are set by PERKESO and the Human Resources Ministry and may be updated, verify against the official PERKESO portal and Act A1788 before you act.

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