Last reviewed: 17 July 2026 This article incorporates PERKESO's opt-out announcement (10 July 2026 press conference), the Cabinet decision of 8 July, and the LINDUNG Faedah portal guidance current as of publish date. Earlier June coverage describing the scheme as fully mandatory is now outdated — check the date on anything you read about this scheme.
If you're an accountant managing multiple SME clients, or a business owner with staff, here's the short version: LINDUNG 24 Jam is no longer mandatory for local employees. It still is for foreign employees. For existing local employees, the opt-out window closes 31 August 2026; a newly registered local employee generally gets 30 days from registration instead.
Everything after that sentence is about not getting the details wrong.
The quick answer
LINDUNG 24 Jam (PERKESO's Skim Kemalangan Bukan Bencana Kerja) started 1 June 2026, covering non-work accidents.
Voluntary for local employees since 8 July, but default is participation. Existing employees who want out: opt out between 13 July–31 August 2026. New hires: 30 days from registration.
No action by 31 August → automatically enrolled.
Foreign employees: mandatory, no opt-out, ever.
June 2026 contributions won't be refunded (per CEO's 10 July remarks — not yet in the written FAQ).
Cost: ~0.75% of wages, employee-paid, employer-remitted, capped at RM6,000 wage ceiling.
If you only read one section, that's the one. Now the parts that trip people up.
Why "voluntary" is misleading
"Voluntary" sounds like employees need to actively sign up. They don't. The scheme runs on default-in, opt-out:
| Employee status |
Result |
| Existing local employee does not opt out by 31 Aug |
Automatically treated as participating |
| Foreign employee |
Participation remains mandatory — no opt-out at any time |
| Local employee submits a valid opt-out |
Employer should stop future deductions once notified; June 2026 stays mandatory and non-refundable |
Not clear yet: how to handle a July/August deduction already processed before an opt-out lands. Don't refund or reverse anything on your own read , confirm with PERKESO or your payroll provider first.
Two wrinkles, running in opposite directions:
Participate → can't later stop. PERKESO's "once eligible, always eligible" principle (sekali layak, terus layak) applies whether the employee actively opted in or just didn't opt out by 31 August — no distinction currently made.
Opt out → can rejoin later. PERKESO's CEO has said employees who opt out may rejoin anytime; protection just restarts when contributions do.
Both are true at once, and it's easy to conflate them. The takeaway for staff: opting out isn't permanent, but opting in is.
What it costs
Roughly 0.75% of wages, but PERKESO uses a banded table — not a straight percentage calculation. A few reference points:
| Monthly wage band |
Employee deduction |
| RM1,400–1,500 |
RM10.85 |
| RM1,900–2,000 |
RM14.65 |
| RM2,900–3,000 |
RM22.15 |
| RM3,900–4,000 |
RM29.65 |
| Above RM5,900, including wages above RM6,000 |
RM44.65 |
PERKESO applies these statutory wage bands rather than charging exactly 0.75% of each employee's actual salary. A straight salary × 0.75% calculation may not match the prescribed amount — small differences, but worth catching on a statutory deduction. Use PERKESO's official table, not the formula.
If you are an accountant managing multiple clients
This is a reconciliation problem, not just compliance news. For every client, you're now tracking a sixth variable: participation status.
Per client, per employee, track:
Nationality (local vs. foreign — decides if opt-out even applies)
Participation/opt-out status
Opt-out declaration date, notice on file
Which employer is selected, if the employee has more than one job
Correct wage band and deduction amount
Payslip vs. PERKESO submission vs. ledger
Run it monthly, as a chain: employee master → participation status → payroll deduction → PERKESO submission → GL. Watch for:
Opted-out employee still getting deducted
Foreign employee marked as opted out (not legally possible — flag immediately)
Two employers deducting the same person
Straight 0.75% instead of the banded amount
New hire's 30-day window untracked
Unreconciled June arrears
Bookkeeping: PERKESO confirms the contribution is fully employee-borne, employer just deducts and remits. That generally sits as an employee deduction payable to PERKESO, not an employer expense , exact ledger account name depends on the client's chart of accounts, not something PERKESO dictates.
If you're outsourcing this to accountants
You don't need to become an expert in this. You need to make sure three things happen:
Your payroll software (or your accountant) has the current PERKESO contribution table loaded
Your foreign workers stay enrolled even if some local staff opt out
Local employees decide for themselves — this isn't something you can opt them in or out of on their behalf
Employers get a six-month grace period from implementation — contribution-related penalties are suspended, though other obligations still apply. After that, failing to deduct required contributions can mean a fine up to RM10,000, up to two years' imprisonment, or both, upon conviction. That's a ceiling, not an automatic outcome — but it's why the grace period is for fixing systems, not ignoring the scheme.
If someone forwarded you this article: send it to whoever runs your payroll. They're the one who needs the checklist above.
If you're running your own show (Ahmad)
Quick gut-check first: are you an employee of your own company, an employer with staff, or purely self-employed with no payroll at all?
Genuinely self-employed, no Act 4 employee status
LINDUNG 24 Jam doesn't cover you automatically just because you own the business. PERKESO's separate scheme for this is LINDUNG Kendiri. Different scheme, different sign-up.
You have staff
there's no employer contribution, but you're still the one deducting, recording, and remitting. "No cost to me" doesn't mean "nothing to do."
You own a Sdn Bhd and also draw a salary as an employee of it
don't assume you're "self-employed" by default. Check your own Act 4 registration status; an owner-director on a contract of service may already be covered as an employee, not exempt as a business owner.
What it doesn't cover
Worth saying plainly, because some framing online oversells this: it should not be treated as a replacement for a medical card or comprehensive medical insurance. It covers accidents, not illness, and only accidents that aren't already work-related (those stay under the Employment Injury Scheme). It doesn't cover accidents outside Malaysia, self-inflicted injury, or fraudulent claims. Private hospital costs may be reimbursed, but at PERKESO's prescribed rates — not the full private bill.
One transition-period question remains unclear
PERKESO's FAQ says two things that don't fully square up: an accident after 8 July isn't covered until the employee chooses to participate and a contribution is made but existing local employees don't need to do anything unless they're opting out, and are auto-enrolled by 31 August anyway. What happens in between, if no contribution has been made yet? PERKESO hasn't spelled that out.
So don't treat this article or anyone else's as a coverage guarantee during the transition. An actual accident, disputed contribution, or payroll correction is a call to PERKESO, not a blog post.
One more thing to watch: PERKESO plans to review the scheme's implementation and sustainability with the Human Resources Ministry by year-end. The scheme itself isn't going away, but the details might shift recheck the official FAQ before relying on anything here after the current opt-out window closes.
Methodology and review: This article was prepared using PERKESO's LINDUNG 24 Jam FAQ dated 13 July 2026, its 10 July 2026 press statement, the official opt-out portal guide, the statutory contribution table, and Act A1788. The practical payroll controls (the Siti checklist, the reconciliation chain) are the author's own interpretation of those materials, not PERKESO wording.
Professional-review status: Not yet independently reviewed by a licensed Malaysian accountant, payroll specialist, or employment-law practitioner.
About the author: 20 years in enterprise IT and AI across tech and e-commerce, now building tools for Malaysian SME accountants. This article is general information, not a substitute for PERKESO's own guidance or advice from a qualified payroll professional.
Last reviewed: 17 July 2026.
