Yes. SOCSO (PERKESO) is compulsory for every legally employed foreign worker in Malaysia, expatriates on an Employment Pass included, and your employer is the one who has to register you. Since 1 June 2026, foreign worker SOCSO means three schemes (Employment Injury, Invalidity and Lindung 24 Jam), and the worker’s share is 1.25% of wages.
For a couple of years after foreign workers moved into SOCSO in 2019, I watched employers in Kuching, mostly smaller construction and F&B outfits, stay unsure which system they were meant to pay into. Some kept paying the old insurance out of caution, and some paid neither for a stretch. That is why one rule outlasts every rate change below: do not assume you are registered because money is leaving your payslip.
Key Takeaways
- Foreign worker SOCSO became compulsory in three steps: Employment Injury on 1 January 2019, Invalidity on 1 July 2024 and Lindung 24 Jam on 1 June 2026.
- In 2026 the employer pays 1.75% of wages and the worker pays 1.25%, on wages up to a RM6,000 monthly ceiling.
- Foreign workers are not in EIS, so losing your job pays nothing from PERKESO.
- Malaysians were let out of Lindung 24 Jam in July 2026; foreign workers were not.
- A spouse on a Dependant Pass sits outside the system unless they hold a work pass of their own.
- To check you are registered, ask HR for your 12-digit KSPA number and look at your contribution history in the Prihatin app.
Who Counts as a Foreign Worker for SOCSO?
For SOCSO, a foreign worker is anyone holding a valid passport and a valid work pass from the Immigration Department. PERKESO’s foreign worker page names the Visit Pass (Temporary Employment), the Employment Pass, the special pass and other related work passes (PERKESO foreign worker page, checked 1 November 2026). Its flyer of 24 February 2026 adds that expatriates and domestic workers are included (PERKESO flyer, checked 1 November 2026). The table sorts the passes you are likely to meet in Kuching, from a lecturer’s Employment Pass to a domestic worker’s pass.
| Pass or status | Covered by PERKESO? | Which schemes | Who pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment Pass (Category I to III) | Yes | Employment Injury, Invalidity, Lindung 24 Jam | Employer 1.75%, worker 1.25% |
| Visit Pass (Temporary Employment), the PLKS work permit | Yes | All three | Employer 1.75%, worker 1.25% |
| Foreign domestic worker | Yes | Employment Injury and Invalidity | Employer registers; split is in PERKESO’s domestic worker flyer |
| Professional Visit Pass | Generally outside; confirm with PERKESO | Not named by PERKESO | Not set out |
| Dependant Pass spouse with no work pass | No | None | None |
| Dependant Pass spouse with their own work pass | Yes, like any employee | All three | Employer 1.75%, worker 1.25% |
| Permanent resident | Treated as a Malaysian | First Category plus EIS | Not the foreign worker rates |
| Worker without a valid pass, or misusing one | No; Lindung 24 Jam excludes it and the injury scheme is for legal workers only | None | Not applicable |
The Professional Visit Pass row reads “generally outside” because that holder is not employed by a Malaysian company, the test the Employees’ Social Security Act applies. Some payroll sites still quote the RM5,000 wage ceiling, which ended on 1 October 2024; it is RM6,000 now. Lindung 24 Jam expressly excludes workers who misuse a valid pass or breach Immigration Act conditions, and the injury scheme is for legal workers only (PERKESO Lindung 24 Jam page, checked 1 November 2026).
What Changed, and When?
Foreign worker SOCSO has moved in five dated steps since 2019.
- 1 January 2019: the Employment Injury Scheme replaced the insurer-run Foreign Workers’ Compensation Scheme, the switch that left Sarawak employers unsure which system to pay into (Employers’ Circular No. 3 of 2018).
- 1 July 2024: the Invalidity Scheme was extended to foreign workers under order P.U.(A) 180/2024 (PERKESO FAQ, 25 July 2024).
- 22 August 2025: PERKESO rebranded its schemes as LINDUNG, a renaming that added to the confusion over why the agency now goes by two names.
- 1 June 2026: Lindung 24 Jam began, with the 0.75% charge falling entirely on the worker.
- 8 July 2026: Cabinet made Lindung 24 Jam voluntary for Malaysians, who could opt out between 13 July and 31 August 2026 on the LINDUNG Faedah portal, while foreign workers stayed in (PERKESO Lindung 24 Jam page, checked 1 November 2026).
Some pages date the Invalidity extension to 2025. PERKESO’s own FAQ and foreign worker page give 1 July 2024, no source gives 2025, and the likely mix-up is with the August 2025 rebrand or the 2026 scheme.
How Much Does SOCSO Cost a Foreign Worker in 2026?
A foreign worker’s 2026 SOCSO bill has three parts, and PERKESO splits them between employer and worker as the table shows (rates from the PERKESO foreign worker page, checked 1 November 2026).
| Scheme | Employer | Worker |
|---|---|---|
| Employment Injury | 1.25% | None |
| Invalidity | 0.5% | 0.5% |
| Lindung 24 Jam | None | 0.75% (1.00% in years 3 to 5, 1.25% from year 6) |
| Total | 1.75% | 1.25% |
SOCSO reads the amount off a banded table rather than multiplying by an exact percentage, so the figures here are “about”. On a RM4,000 wage the worker’s share comes to about RM49 a month (RM19.75 for Invalidity plus RM29.65 for Lindung 24 Jam) and the employer’s to about RM69, and the official contribution calculator gives your own band. At the RM6,000 ceiling the worker’s share stops at RM74.40 and the employer’s at RM104.15.
A worker first covered before 55 gets all three schemes (First Category). One first covered at 55 or older, or still working at 60, sits in the Second Category without Invalidity, and the Invalidity Pension is paid only if the notice of invalidity arrives before 60. Employers pay by the 15th of the following month. None of this is income tax, which runs separately through PCB, as how Malaysia taxes expat salaries explains.
The downside stays: a Malaysian colleague who opted out of Lindung 24 Jam pays about 0.7% (0.5% SOCSO plus 0.2% EIS) and is inside EIS, while a foreign worker pays 1.25%, cannot opt out and has no EIS behind it. Registration also depends on the employer getting it right.
What Is a Foreign Worker Not Covered For?
A foreign worker is outside EIS (LINDUNG Kerjaya), which covers citizens and permanent residents only. A work-pass holder who is retrenched therefore gets no Job Search Allowance, which pays Malaysians for 3 to 6 months if they claim within 60 days of losing a job (PERKESO EIS page, checked 1 November 2026; coverage clarification). The training and re-employment payments EIS adds from 1 October 2026 are closed to you too. What replaces EIS is your contract and the notice and termination rules that apply in Sarawak instead.
SOCSO is also not health insurance. The Invalidity Scheme pays a pension if you become permanently unable to work, and Lindung 24 Jam pays for accidents but not for illness, so neither covers a dengue admission. I assumed for my first while here that the deduction was buying general medical cover, and it was not. Private cover fills that gap, and the private cover options expats here compare are worth settling before you need one.
What Can a Foreign Worker Claim?
A foreign worker claims the same benefits as a Malaysian under each scheme (the rates below are from the PERKESO Employment Injury Scheme page, checked 1 November 2026):
- Medical benefit: treatment at panel clinics and government hospitals, which in Kuching means the Kuching hospitals behind that medical benefit.
- Temporary Disablement: 80% of average daily wage, with a minimum of RM30 and a maximum of RM158.67 a day, for medical leave of four days or more counting the day of the accident. The RM158.67 cap, not the 80%, sets what a high earner receives.
- Permanent Disablement: 90% of average daily wage, with a maximum of RM178.50 a day.
- Constant Attendance Allowance: RM500 a month.
- Funeral benefit: RM3,000.
- Dependants’ benefit: 90% of the daily wage, split 3/5 to a widow or widower and 2/5 to children.
Lindung 24 Jam covers accidents outside work in Malaysia only, so a Sunday motorbike fall counts and a fall in Bali does not. Dependants’ benefits are payable to family living outside Malaysia, and PERKESO’s foreign worker page lists a funeral repatriation cost on top, so ask PERKESO about the paperwork before you need it. The forms to file after an accident are in the step-by-step claim process.
How Do I Check That My Employer Has Registered Me?
Checking takes four steps, and the first two cost a message to HR.
- Ask HR for your 12-digit Foreign Worker Social Security Number (KSPA), which PERKESO issues once your employer registers you.
- Open PERKESO’s Prihatin app and read your monthly contribution history. If the lookup will not accept a passport number, move to step 3.
- Read your payslip: your Invalidity share and your Lindung 24 Jam share should both appear, about 1.25% of wages together, next to the EPF line (how that 2% EPF contribution is handled). An EIS line on a foreigner’s payslip is a mistake.
- If nothing shows after two months, call 1-300-22-8000 or go to the Kuching state office at Wisma PERKESO, Lot 436, Section 54, No. 52 Travillion Commercial Centre, Jalan Padungan, 93100 Kuching, open Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm and closed at weekends (checked October 2026; PERKESO Sarawak page).
The Kuching counters are air-conditioned and the staff file the paperwork alongside you. Opening hours for the other agencies are in which Kuching counters handle what.
Employers who skip registration face a fine of up to RM10,000, two years in jail or both (PERKESO flyer, checked 1 November 2026), yet PERKESO’s 2024 enforcement drive, Ops Kesan, found only about 88% of foreign workers and 59% of foreign domestic workers registered as of 30 September 2024 (NST, November 2024). That leaves roughly one foreign worker in eight and four domestic workers in ten with no record.
What About My Spouse on a Dependant Pass?
A Dependant Pass does not carry the right to work, so a spouse on one has no employer and no SOCSO. A spouse on their own work pass is covered like any employee. A spouse on a Dependant Pass cannot join the self-employed or homemaker schemes either, which are for citizens and permanent residents only (Malaysia.gov.my insurance and protection). Private insurance is their protection, and what a Dependant Pass permits is worth reading before you plan a second income.
Is It Worth Anything to an Expat in Kuching?
Yes for the injury and invalidity cover, no for anything else. It costs 1.25% of pay, you cannot opt out, and there is no job-loss cover behind it, so you are paying a bigger share than a Malaysian colleague for fewer protections. The part that decides whether it is worth anything is registration: the small Kuching employers I watched after 2019 were not careless people, just unsure, and an unsure employer is the one whose paperwork you should read.
Is SOCSO Compulsory for Expatriates?
Yes, for any expatriate holding a valid passport and work pass, which includes an Employment Pass. PERKESO lists expatriates by name on its foreign worker page, and the employer must register you.
Can a Foreign Worker Claim SOCSO After Leaving Malaysia?
A benefit already awarded for an injury or invalidity that happened while you were covered keeps being paid after you leave. A new claim needs the injury or invalidity to have happened while you were insured, in Malaysia and on a valid work pass. The details sit on the PERKESO foreign worker page, and PERKESO confirms individual cases on 1-300-22-8000.
Do Foreign Workers Pay EIS?
No. EIS is for citizens and permanent residents, and a foreign worker’s payslip should show no EIS line.
Send HR one message this week asking for your 12-digit number. If you ever need to claim, the order the claim forms go in is worth knowing in advance. The contract rules that stand in for EIS are in the Employment Act breakdown of notice and sick leave. The employer side of hiring here is in jobs in Kuching. The rest of working life here sits in the working in Kuching hub.