(TAX UPDATE) PERKESO Just Changed the Rules Twice. Here Is What Your HR Desk Needs to Do

Introduction

A new hire signs the offer letter on Monday. By Friday, your HR executive has registered EPF, SOCSO, and EIS, run the payroll, and filed everything on time. Clean process.

Except two things moved this month, and your payroll software has not caught up with either. Both sit right at the point of hiring.

If your onboarding checklist still reads "offer letter, EPF, SOCSO, payroll", it is already out of date. Here are the two updates, as at 9 July 2026.

1. LINDUNG 24 JAM is now voluntary for local employees

This is the U-Turn.

LINDUNG 24 JAM, formally the Skim Kemalangan Bukan Bencana Kerja (SKBBK), came into force on 1 June 2026 under the Employees' Social Security (Amendment) Act 2026 (Act A1788), which sits under the Employees' Social Security Act 1969 (Act 4). It extended PERKESO coverage to accidents occurring outside working hours, anywhere in Malaysia, around the clock. The contribution was 0.75% of monthly wages, capped at a RM6,000 wage ceiling, and fully borne by the employee.

On 8 July 2026 the Cabinet decided the contribution would no longer be mandatory. On 9 July 2026 the Human Resources Minister clarified the split. For local employees, participation is now voluntary. For foreign workers, it remains mandatory under existing legal provisions.

The cost is still borne entirely by the employee. The employer's role is to deduct and remit to PERKESO on behalf of participating employees, exactly as before.

In short, a local employee now chooses whether to contribute, while a foreign worker stays in with no opt out. The cost falls on the employee in both cases, and the employer's job is to deduct and remit only where the employee participates.

One practical warning. Do not simply switch the deduction off, or keep it running, for local staff on assumption. PERKESO has said it will announce the implementation mechanism and the voluntary enrolment process separately, and that mechanism is not published yet.

Until it is, deduct for a local employee only where you hold a proper participation record for that person. A deduction without basis is how a routine payroll line becomes a payroll dispute.

2. Vacancy reporting to PERKESO before hiring, now with tiered penalties

This is separate from anything on the tax side, and separate from LINDUNG 24 JAM.

Under Section 45F of the Employment Insurance System Act, employers who fail to notify PERKESO of a job vacancy or a newly created position before hiring face a penalty. The original Bill, passed by the Dewan Rakyat in December 2025, set a flat maximum of RM10,000.

After feedback from employers and MSME groups, the Dewan Negara amended the penalty in March 2026, and the Dewan Rakyat approved the revised tiered structure on 30 June 2026:

Up to RM1,000 for a first offence.
Up to RM3,000 for a second offence.
Up to RM5,000 for a third and subsequent offence.

There is an important qualifier that changes the urgency. PERKESO has announced a moratorium of up to two years on enforcement of this provision. During the transition period, no employer is to be penalised. Compliance notices are to be issued first, giving employers a chance to correct before any compound is imposed. The direction of travel is clear, but the enforcement switch is not on today.

So the message for HR is about habit, not panic. Vacancy reporting is moving from an afterthought into part of the recruitment process itself. Build the step in now, while the moratorium gives you room, rather than retrofitting it later under enforcement.

Do not confuse this with CP22 for LHDN

The vacancy notification above is a PERKESO obligation. It is not the same as your tax obligation.

For tax, the employer must notify LHDN of a new employee using Form CP22 within 30 days from the date the employee commences employment, where the employee is or is likely to be chargeable to tax. That duty sits under Section 83 of the Income Tax Act 1967 and has not changed. Two different agencies, two different forms, two different timelines.

The onboarding checklist, updated

Before hiring: check whether the vacancy or newly created position needs to be reported to PERKESO through MYFutureJobs.
On joining: register the employee for EPF, SOCSO, and EIS where applicable.
For LINDUNG 24 JAM: confirm whether a local employee has opted in, and remember the enrolment mechanism is still pending. For a foreign worker, the deduction remains mandatory.
Within 30 days: submit Form CP22 to LHDN where the employee is or is likely to be chargeable to tax.
Throughout: keep written records. When an officer asks months later, a verbal assurance that HR handled it is not a document.

KTP's View

The shape of hiring compliance has quietly changed. It used to end at offer letter, EPF, SOCSO, and payroll. It now stretches across before hire, during hire, and after hire, and it draws on more than one authority at once.

The real risk for a business owner is not any single fine. It is the gap between how fast the rules move and how slowly internal processes and payroll systems catch up. When that gap opens, the boss turns to HR and asks why no one flagged it, and HR is left explaining a change that arrived faster than the software update.

The fix is unglamorous and reliable. Treat statutory hiring steps as a documented checklist, review it every quarter against primary sources, and keep the paper trail. The firms that build for constant change absorb each of these shifts as a routine update. The firms built around a single fixed process absorb each one as a fire drill.

If you are unsure whether a specific position must be reported, or how the LINDUNG 24 JAM opt-in should be handled for your workforce, speak to us before the next payroll run rather than after.

This article is general information as at 9 July 2026 and is not advice for any specific person or situation. Rates, thresholds, and procedures may change. Verify against the relevant Act, PERKESO, and LHDN guidance, or speak to a qualified adviser, before acting.

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