There has been a new line on Malaysian payslips since June 2026. It is small, it comes out of the employee’s side, and most published explainers stop at the rate.
The part worth knowing is what happened to the first month’s money. Those contributions were mandatory when they were deducted, and they cannot be refunded. An employer whose staff opted out afterwards still owes June, and still has to remit the deduction.
What SKBBK / LINDUNG 24 JAM is, and who pays for it
PERKESO’s own description of the scheme is short.
Enrolment runs at two speeds, and this is the rule most employers get wrong.
Mandatory for foreign workers, voluntary for local ones. Local employees who did not actively opt out by 31 August 2026 were enrolled automatically.
Now the funding, which is the point that separates this scheme from every other Malaysian statutory contribution. The FAQ asks directly who finances it.
![LINDUNG 24 JAM FAQ page 8, showing the end of question 31 with the RM6,000 monthly wage ceiling and the reference to Jadual Ketiga, Kadar Caruman, Akta Keselamatan Sosial Pekerja (Pindaan) 2026 [Akta A1788], followed by question 32 asking whether the employer also contributes and answering Tidak.](https://media.bigdomain.my/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/perkeso-lindung-q32.webp)
And the follow-up question, which is answered in a single word.
PERKESO’s rate summary makes the same point in table form. The employer row reads 1.25 per cent for the Employment Injury Scheme, a dash for LINDUNG 24 JAM, and 0.5 per cent for the Invalidity Scheme, totalling 1.75 per cent. The employee row reads a dash for Employment Injury, 0.75 per cent for LINDUNG 24 JAM and 0.5 per cent for Invalidity, totalling 1.25 per cent. The employer’s contribution does not move because of this scheme. Only the employee’s does.
The SKBBK rate from 2026 to 2031
The rate is not permanent, and it is published as a schedule rather than a single number.
Three phases, two step-ups, and a ceiling. The FAQ places the rate schedule in Jadual Ketiga, Kadar Caruman, of the Social Security (Amendment) Act 2026, cited there as Akta A1788, with the mandatory period running from 1 June 2026.
The definition of wages for this scheme is the one already used under Act 4. It covers salary and other remuneration payable to the employee, including pay for leave, rest days, overtime and extra work on rest days. It excludes statutory contributions, travelling allowance or the value of travelling concessions, special expenses incurred in the course of the job, termination or retirement gratuity, annual bonus, and any other remuneration the Human Resources Minister may prescribe. Travel allowance is the one that catches employers out, because it is a common way to structure a package and it does not count here.
What it costs: a worked payslip table
PERKESO publishes the deduction in wage bands rather than as a clean percentage of your payroll figure. At the ceiling the band is the one that runs above RM5,900 up to RM6,000, and every wage above RM6,000 takes the same amount. The figures below are read from PERKESO’s own Jadual Caruman Baharu Merangkumi SKBBK.
| Monthly wage band | Employee SKBBK at 0.75% | Employee Invalidity share, unchanged | Employer, total Act 4, unchanged |
|---|---|---|---|
| Above RM2,900 up to RM3,000 | RM22.15 | RM14.75 | RM51.65 |
| Above RM4,900 up to RM5,000 | RM37.15 | RM24.75 | RM86.65 |
| Above RM5,900 up to RM6,000 | RM44.65 | RM29.75 | RM104.15 |
| Above RM6,000 | RM44.65 | RM29.75 | RM104.15 |
Three notes on that table, because the figures are easy to misread.
These are the Act 4 figures as published in PERKESO’s Jadual Caruman Baharu Merangkumi SKBBK. EIS is a separate Act and is not in this table. The bands are the published bands: an employee on exactly RM3,000 falls in the band that runs above RM2,900 to RM3,000, so the deduction is RM22.15 rather than a rounded 0.75 per cent of the salary figure. And the employer column is identical to what it was before the scheme existed.
June 2026: the month that cannot be refunded
This is the operational sting, and almost nothing published on the scheme mentions it.
When contributions began on 1 June 2026, participation was mandatory. The Cabinet decision that made local participation voluntary came later, on 8 July 2026. PERKESO’s FAQ addresses what that means for money already deducted.
And for the employer who never deducted it in the first place, the FAQ is equally direct. Question 10 asks about June 2026 contributions that were not paid where the employee has since opted out. The answer states that all June 2026 contributions were mandatory, and that the employer is responsible for deducting the shortfall from the employee’s wages based on the LINDUNG 24 JAM contribution schedule.
Question 26 answers the same question again, for the employer who filed a June contribution that simply did not include the LINDUNG 24 JAM amount. The shortfall still has to be made good, and it still comes out of the employee’s wages.
So the sequence is this. June was mandatory. Your staff may have opted out in July or August. That does not undo June. If you deducted it, you remit it and it is not coming back. If you did not deduct it, you owe it, and the deduction comes out of a later payslip.
What can be refunded, and who can claim it
Refunds exist, but only for the months after June. The FAQ states that the refundable period runs from July 2026 onwards, depending on the opt-out period the employee was eligible for.
The claim is the employer’s to make, not the employee’s. PERKESO answers that question with a flat no: an employee cannot claim a LINDUNG 24 JAM refund directly at a PERKESO office. The route is the ASSIST portal, under My Sites, then the Inspection module, then the Refund menu.
Employer checklist before the next payroll run
- Establish who is in scope. Foreign workers are mandatory. Local employees are voluntary, but those who did not opt out by 31 August 2026 are enrolled automatically.
- Check the June position. Contributions for that month are mandatory and not refundable. If the deduction was never made, the shortfall has to be deducted and remitted.
- Reconcile the rate against the band your employee’s wage falls in, not against a flat percentage of the salary figure.
- Confirm your payroll system applies the RM6,000 ceiling. Anything above it takes the same deduction as the top band.
- Leave the employer side alone. The employer contribution is unchanged, and PERKESO’s rate summary shows a dash in the employer’s LINDUNG 24 JAM column.
- If you are refunding a post-June month, file through ASSIST under My Sites, Inspection module, Refund menu. Employees cannot file it themselves.
- Diary the next rate step. Phase Two begins 1 June 2028 at 1.00 per cent.
One more thing sits in the FAQ and it is worth an employer’s attention. PERKESO states that it gives employers a six-month grace period after the scheme is enforced, during which employers are exempt from penalties or legal action for non-compliance with LINDUNG 24 JAM contributions. Non-compliance with other provisions still applies. After that window, the consequence for failing to deduct is stated plainly in the FAQ: on conviction, imprisonment of up to two years, a fine not exceeding RM10,000, or both.
If you are the employee asking why your net pay is lower
Because a new statutory deduction started in June 2026, and it is yours. Your employer does not match it. At the top band it is RM44.65 a month.
The scheme covers accidents that happen outside work and are not connected to your job. In the FAQ’s own examples: accidents at home, accidents while travelling on personal business, and accidents during personal activities. It does not cover accidents at work, which stay under the Employment Injury Scheme, and it does not cover accidents abroad arising from your employment.
If you opted out, note that opting out is not a revolving door in the other direction. The FAQ describes the principle as once eligible, always eligible, and an employee who opted out can opt back in, with contributions starting from the month of that choice. If you opted out and then had an accident in June 2026, question 47 states that you are still entitled to LINDUNG 24 JAM benefits for that June accident, because June contributions were mandatory.
The benefits themselves are not trivial. They include medical treatment, temporary and permanent disablement benefits, a constant attendance allowance of RM500 a month, physical and vocational rehabilitation, dependants’ benefits, and a funeral management benefit of RM3,000. A full month’s contribution is payable even if the employee opts in part-way through the month.
On demand data. No traffic or search-volume figure was obtained for this topic. The proxy is that the deduction appears on every employee payslip in the country, that PERKESO’s own FAQ and contribution table settle the rate, the phases, the ceiling, the funding rule and the effective dates, and that this site has no post on the scheme. That is a proxy, not a volume number.
About BD Media. BD Media is the editorial desk of Big Domain, a Malaysian web hosting and digital services company. We write about the things a Malaysian business owner has to act on: tax, payroll, statutory contributions, e-Invoice and the digital tools that sit around them.
This article is a general guide to a published scheme. It is not a substitute for advice from your own accountant, payroll provider or PERKESO.
Sources. (T1) PERKESO, Soalan-Soalan Lazim (FAQ) — Perluasan Perlindungan Keselamatan Sosial Di Bawah Skim Kemalangan Bukan Bencana Kerja / LINDUNG 24 JAM, Ver2.1/FAQL24/JUN26, 19 pages. Downloaded and read 17 September 2026 from https://www.perkeso.gov.my/images/lindung/lindung-24-jam/faq-2.1.pdf — HTTP 200. Questions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 25, 26, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 43, 45, 46, 47, 50 and 51 read; quotes reproduced verbatim in Malay above.
(T1) PERKESO, Jadual Caruman Baharu Merangkumi SKBBK, 8 pages, no version number on its face. Downloaded and read 17 September 2026 from https://www.perkeso.gov.my/images/lindung/lindung-24-jam/JadualCarumanBaharuTermasukSKBBK.pdf — HTTP 200. The RM6,000 ceiling band and the employee SKBBK figures of RM22.15, RM37.15 and RM44.65, plus the unchanged employer and employee Invalidity figures in the table above.
(T1) PERKESO, Combine SOCSO + EIS Contribution Text File Format, Versi 2.1, Tarikh 13 Februari 2026, 3 pages. Downloaded and read 17 September 2026 from https://www.perkeso.gov.my/images/borang/lindung24jam/28072026-formatteksfail.pdf — HTTP 200. Field 11 is named “Contribution Amount SKBBK (Employee share)”, corroborating the employee-only funding rule from a second PERKESO document.
What we could not check. The gazette date of Act A1788. The FAQ names the Act and the rate schedule but does not give a gazette date, so no date for the Act’s gazettal appears in this article. PERKESO’s Pekeliling Majikan Bil. 2 dan 3 Tahun 2026 are served as image-only scans with no extractable text, so they were not read and are not cited. PERKESO’s LINDUNG 24 JAM scheme page returned a firewall rejection page rather than content when fetched on 17 September 2026, so nothing here relies on it. The FAQ states that June 2026 contributions cannot be refunded; whether any residual route to relief exists is not addressed in the document we read, and we have not written one in.
