KUALA LUMPUR: More than 200 retirees held a peaceful gathering to demand fairer disbursement of gratuity payments from the Social Security Organisation (Socso).
Spokeperson Mohd Noor Abdullah claimed that Socso had been favouring members who retired after Jan 1, 2017, and denied the rights of those who retired before that.
He also claimed that Socso chief executive officer Datuk Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz had given assurances that improvements in the ex-gratia formula would be extended to all retirees, but the opposite happened.
“This issue arose following the government’s decision on March 25, 2013, to provide ex-gratia payments to all statutory bodies with separate remuneration pensioners.
“The Public Service Department had issued a circular to clarify the coverage and payment method.
“However, Socso did not comply with the PSD guidelines, but instead adopted its own computational formula of ‘years of service X RM1,000’.
“After improvements, the formula becomes “months of service X final salary X 7.5 per cent’ and only applies to staff retiring after Jan 1, 2017, thus denying our rights,” he said outside the Socso headquarters today.
Socso held a press conference shortly after the gathering to respond to the issues raised.
Socso deputy chief executive (corporate) Datin Azlaily Abd Rahman said Socso had acted appropriately based on the requirements of the Finance Ministry, by referring to the power of the provisions in Section 590 of the Social Security Act 1969.
She said the decision made by the Socso Board should stand and there was no justification for reviewing the terms and conditions of service for retired members before Jan 1, 2017.
“Any policy decision by the Socso Board which affects the organisation financially cannot be sidelined as it will impact the organisation’s funding capabilities over the long haul.
“Socso’s chief executive, in principle, understands the needs of this group, but denies any guarantee or promise that the ex-gratia payments will be extended to all retirees before Jan 1, 2017.
“However, if the association still cannot accept the decision, they have the right to take legal action against Socso,” she added.
