Yes, SOCSO and PERKESO are the same organisation. PERKESO is the Malay name (Pertubuhan Keselamatan Sosial) and SOCSO is the English one (Social Security Organisation), so a payslip that prints either label points at one body, and that body now sells its protection under five LINDUNG brands covering six underlying schemes.
I assumed for my first while here that the deduction was buying me some general medical cover. It isn’t, and I gather I am not the only expat who got that wrong. This page settles the name, then maps each scheme so you can place whatever label sits on your payslip.
Key Takeaways
- SOCSO and PERKESO are one body with two names; EIS, SIP and LINDUNG are brand names for schemes it runs.
- Four LINDUNG brands launched on 22 August 2025 (Pekerja, Kerjaya, Kendiri, Kasih), and Lindung 24 Jam became the fifth brand on 1 June 2026.
- A Malaysian employee under 60 should see 0.5% for SOCSO and 0.2% for EIS, plus 0.75% for Lindung 24 Jam unless they opted out; the employer pays the rest of the first two.
- Contributions stop growing at a wage ceiling of RM6,000 a month.
- A foreign employee should see 0.5% for the Invalidity Scheme and 0.75% for Lindung 24 Jam, with no EIS.
- None of it is health insurance: it replaces lost income after an accident, invalidity or job loss.
Why Do SOCSO and PERKESO Both Appear on My Payslip?
The Employees’ Social Security Act 1969 (Act 4) created the organisation. PERKESO is the Malay acronym the agency prints on its own forms and website; payroll software and HR teams still print SOCSO. Both labels are correct, so both keep turning up. Worker forums are full of people who saw one label on an offer letter and the other on the first payslip, then assumed two deductions. It is one. For the rates and the benefit amounts, what the Employment Injury Scheme pays out is set out in the parent guide.
On 22 August 2025 PERKESO relaunched its schemes under one LINDUNG brand, the Malay word for protection. LINDUNG Pekerja covers the Act 4 schemes, LINDUNG Kerjaya covers EIS (Act 800), LINDUNG Kendiri covers the self-employed scheme (Act 789) and LINDUNG Kasih covers the homemakers’ scheme (Act 838). Lindung 24 Jam was added in 2026. A “LINDUNG Pekerja” line on a 2026 payslip is therefore the old SOCSO deduction under a new label, and “LINDUNG 24 Jam” is a separate, newer one (PERKESO LINDUNG page, checked 1 November 2026; launch reported by NST on 22 August 2025).
The branding is a mess. In a few years the same deduction has gone from SOCSO to PERKESO to LINDUNG Pekerja, and even the official Employment Injury Scheme page uses PERKESO and SOCSO interchangeably.
What Schemes Does PERKESO Run?
PERKESO runs six schemes, which is why five brands is not a contradiction: LINDUNG Pekerja covers two of them. Three of the six put a line on an employee’s payslip. The table below was checked against perkeso.gov.my on 1 November 2026; the sections under it carry the detail.
| Scheme | LINDUNG name | Who it covers | What it pays for | Who pays |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment Injury Scheme | LINDUNG Pekerja | Employees, including foreign workers | Work accidents, commuting accidents, occupational disease | Employer |
| Invalidity Scheme | LINDUNG Pekerja | Employees under 60, foreign workers since 1 July 2024 | Pension if you cannot work, whatever the cause | Employer and employee |
| Employment Insurance System (EIS, SIP) | LINDUNG Kerjaya | Citizens and permanent residents | Income support after losing a job | 0.2% each |
| Lindung 24 Jam | LINDUNG 24 Jam | Employees; optional for Malaysians, mandatory for foreign workers | Accidents outside work hours in Malaysia | Employee, 0.75% |
| Self-Employment Social Security Scheme (SKSPS) | LINDUNG Kendiri | Citizens and permanent residents who work for themselves | Injury and related benefits for the self-employed | The member, about RM13 to RM49 a month |
| Housewives’ Social Security Scheme (SKSSR) | LINDUNG Kasih | Citizens and permanent residents under 55 | Accident and death cover for homemakers | RM120 a year, paid in advance |
Employment Injury Scheme (LINDUNG Pekerja)
This is the scheme most people mean by “SOCSO”. It pays for accidents at work, accidents on the normal route between home and work (an authorised meal break counts, a detour does not), emergency accidents and listed occupational diseases, according to the official scheme page, checked 1 November 2026. The employer funds it, and the employee share of the deduction goes elsewhere. A claim starts with your employer reporting the accident, and the step-by-step claims process is a separate guide.
Invalidity Scheme
The Invalidity Scheme pays a monthly pension, not a lump sum, if illness or injury of any cause leaves you unable to work before 60, provided your contribution history meets the qualifying conditions. It is the part of PERKESO that responds to non-work illness, and it replaces income rather than paying hospital bills. Foreign workers joined it on 1 July 2024, according to the PERKESO foreign worker page, checked 1 November 2026, and what that change meant for work-pass holders has its own page.
Employment Insurance System (EIS, SIP, LINDUNG Kerjaya)
EIS is the job-loss scheme, set up under a separate Act (Act 800) on 1 January 2018, and it takes 0.2% from the employee and 0.2% from the employer on wages up to RM6,000. It covers Malaysian citizens and permanent residents only, because legally employed foreign workers fall under Act 4 instead (PERKESO’s EIS page and foreign worker clarification, checked 1 November 2026). A claim has to be filed within 60 days of losing the job.
Lindung 24 Jam (Non-Employment Injury Scheme)
Lindung 24 Jam is the deduction that confused people in mid-2026. It started on 1 June 2026 and covers accidents outside working hours inside Malaysia, with the employee paying all of it: 0.75% of wages up to RM6,000 for the first two years, 1.0% for years three to five and 1.25% from year six (official scheme page, checked 1 November 2026). PERKESO’s Lindung 24 Jam rate table uses wage bands rather than a straight percentage, so on RM3,000 of monthly wages that first rate comes to RM22.15, not a flat RM22.50, against RM14.75 for the SOCSO line on the same payslip. It excludes illness such as diabetes, fever and high blood pressure, accidents abroad, injuries of the self-employed and domestic injuries, which is why it still does not make SOCSO health insurance.
The rules then moved twice in five weeks. A Cabinet decision on 8 July 2026 made the scheme voluntary for Malaysians, with an opt-out window from 13 July to 31 August 2026 through a liability-waiver declaration on the LINDUNG Faedah portal, and anyone who did nothing stayed enrolled (NST, 8 July and NST, 15 July). About 87.6% of workers stayed in, and rejoining has been open online since 2 September 2026 with no time limit (RinggitPlus, September 2026). Foreign workers cannot opt out. Several employees who left said they already held company or personal accident cover, and several reported that payroll kept deducting until PERKESO’s confirmation reached HR. I could not find an official statement on whether the June and July deductions were refunded to people who opted out, so treat that money as unconfirmed.
Self-Employment Social Security Scheme (SKSPS, LINDUNG Kendiri)
SKSPS is for Malaysian citizens and permanent residents who work for themselves in an approved sector, with no age limit. Members pay monthly on a plan, from about RM13 to RM49 (official rate page, checked 1 November 2026). Freelancers belong here, since no employer exists to deduct anything, and setting up as a freelancer in Malaysia is where the rest of that story starts.
Housewives’ Social Security Scheme (SKSSR, LINDUNG Kasih)
SKSSR costs RM120 a year, paid in advance for 12 months, and it is open to Malaysian citizens and permanent residents under 55. The husband, the woman herself or a third party can pay (rate page, checked 1 November 2026).
What Are Contribution Category 1 and Category 2?
PERKESO splits employees into two contribution categories by age, and the category decides which schemes your wages fund (contributions page, checked 1 November 2026). First Category covers employees under 60 for both the Employment Injury and Invalidity schemes, with the employer paying 1.75% and the employee 0.5%. Second Category covers employees who have reached 60, and anyone first covered at 55 or older, for Employment Injury only, with the employer paying 1.25% and the employee paying nothing.
The wage ceiling went from RM5,000 to RM6,000 on 1 October 2024 (rate of contribution page, checked 1 November 2026), so the deduction on a RM8,000 salary matches the one on RM6,000. The ringgit amount comes from a banded table rather than a straight percentage, so wages of RM3,000 produce a SOCSO deduction of RM14.75, not RM15. The full band-by-band rates are in the parent guide.
Which PERKESO Portal or Office Do I Use?
PERKESO splits its online services by who is logging in, and there is one office in Kuching for everything that needs a person.
- ASSIST portal: employers use it to register, pay contributions and keep employee records.
- PERKESO Prihatin app: an insured person checks their contribution history and downloads a statement.
- LINDUNG Faedah portal (lindungfaedah.perkeso.gov.my): an insured person files benefit claims online, a service that opened in early 2026, and it hosts the Lindung 24 Jam opt-out declaration.
- Customer line 1-300-22-8000: the same number PERKESO lists for Kuching.
The Kuching state office is Wisma PERKESO, Lot 436, Section 54, No. 52 Travillion Commercial Centre, Jalan Padungan, 93100 Kuching. The Google Maps listing, checked October 2026, shows 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday and closed on Saturday and Sunday, so a payslip question means a weekday trip or the phone line, and the office is closed all weekend. The full Sarawak list is in the guide to EPF and SOCSO offices around Kuching, and PERKESO’s own Sarawak page lists the branches.
So What Should I Check on My Own Payslip?
A Malaysian under 60 should see three deduction lines: SOCSO at 0.5% (the Invalidity share), EIS at 0.2%, and Lindung 24 Jam at 0.75% unless they opted out. A foreign employee on a work pass should see SOCSO at 0.5% and Lindung 24 Jam at 0.75%, with no EIS line, because EIS is for citizens and permanent residents. Payroll software labels these differently (“SOCSO”, “PERKESO”, “SIP”, “SKBBK” or “LINDUNG 24 JAM”), and the EPF line beside them belongs to KWSP, a separate body, so how that contribution builds retirement savings is a different question.
When foreign workers were first brought into the system in 2019, I spent a couple of years watching employers in Kuching, especially smaller outfits in construction and F&B, stay unsure which system they were meant to pay into.
If your labels do not match any of the above, ask HR which scheme each line belongs to.
Keep reading: every SOCSO rate and benefit in one place has the contribution table, the claims guide covers what happens after an accident, and the jobs, EPF and SOCSO picture for expats sits one level up.