Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng has called on the federal government to abolish Section 45F of the amended Employment Insurance System (SIP) Bill when it is debated in the Dewan Negara, warning that the RM10,000 penalty will heavily burden employers.
He said the amendment, passed by the Dewan Rakyat on 2 Dec 2025, requires employers to notify Perkeso of any job vacancy or creation of a new position within seven days, failing which they may be fined RM10,000 for each vacancy.
“If there are five separate vacancies or new positions over a five-week period and the employer fails to comply, the penalty can reach RM50,000. If vacancies multiply, the fines will only pile up further,” he said.
Lim stressed that the Dewan Negara has the power to amend the bill by deleting Section 45F and then refer it back to the Dewan Rakyat, adding that he believes MPs would support abolishing the provision in such circumstances.
He criticised Perkeso for failing to conduct proper stakeholder engagement before the SIP amendments were passed on 2 Dec.
Referring to Perkeso’s 4 Dec 2025 statement, Lim said the agency only then tried to calm employers’ anger by announcing a two-year moratorium on enforcement and promising that the RM10,000 penalty would only be implemented after engagement sessions with employers and stakeholders.
“The question is: why did Perkeso only plan stakeholder engagement on 4 Dec, after the SIP amendment was approved by the Dewan Rakyat on 2 Dec, and not before?”
He argued that a two-year moratorium is meaningless if the RM10,000 penalty will ultimately be enforced.
Lim added that many government MPs had been under the impression that Perkeso had already conducted engagement and obtained stakeholder consent before the amendment was tabled and passed.
“This has tainted the approval process of the SIP amendment and must be corrected by abolishing Section 45F,” he said.
If the federal government insists on proceeding, Lim said SMEs should be exempted, and any penalties imposed on non-SMEs should be reduced to only RM100.
