What You Need To Know About Employee Benefits In Malaysia

If you're an HR professional or a company owner looking to provide your team with a comprehensive employee benefits program, you've come to the right place.

In this day and age, job benefits and extra perks offered by a company can have a significant impact on attracting talent, achieving high employee engagement, and maintaining staff retention. 

When a company provides its employees with great employment benefits, it boosts job performance and dedication and increases loyalty. When employee satisfaction is high, the mood around the company tends to be positive, and employee turnover decreases. 

What Are Employee Benefits?

Simply put, employee benefits are indirect, non-cash, or cash compensation paid to staff by the employer in addition to their annual salary while serving the company. 

But did you know? Employee benefits guidelines under the Employment Act 1955 only listed the bare minimum requirements for companies to follow, such as the mandatory annual leave entitlement, off days on public holidays, maternity leave, sick leave, hospitalisation leave, and lay-off benefits. 

Although most companies in this country offer medical insurance for employees, it might surprise you that medical coverage is not mandatory in an employment contract. 

However, because employers are competing for great talent, employees at all levels of experience would prefer to work for companies with better medical insurance coverage and additional incentives. These benefits and perks are what will get your company ahead of the other competitors when it comes to attracting and retaining talent.

What Is Insurance For Employees And Why Is It Important?

The main objective of providing employees with insurance, especially medical treatment and hospitalisation, is to protect and support the health and well-being of the organisation’s workforce. 

Although it’s optional, employers in Malaysia are encouraged to offer their employees the following insurance benefits:

• Group medical insurance.
• Treatment and hospitalisation coverage.
• Personal accident insurance.
• Dental and optical coverage.

The main focus today is the group medical insurance for employees and what the package usually covers;

• Basic health benefits, such as outpatient and inpatient care, allow employees to receive consultations, get necessary medication when they fall sick, or seek treatments at the hospital if necessary.
• Major companies with more allocation for employee benefits would include their employees’ dependents in the medical insurance package so they can also get treated anytime, anywhere, as long as it doesn’t exhaust the annual amount limit. 
• Maternity expense coverage allows mothers to seek better medical facilities to help them deliver their babies.
• Extended benefits include medical check-ups, immunisation shots, mental health support and general wellness as illnesses are not always about communicable diseases.
  
  
  

Ever Wonder Why Job Seekers Look For Better Employee Benefits Packages From Employers?

• Medical and healthcare costs are increasing each year, especially in private hospitals with better facilities and equipment.
  
  
• Medical insurance coverage helps lessen their financial burden should they fall sick, get injured or become disabled while performing their work.
  
  
• This benefit could improve their work and dedication to the company by being more productive and consistently performing at their highest level.
  
  
• A good company with great employee benefits is known to have a better work-life balance environment that most likely stems from top to bottom.
  
  Why Do Employers Need To Offer Better Group Medical Insurance To Their Employees?

Offering a comprehensive employee benefits package has several advantages for both small businesses and large corporations. Note that the list is subjective and non-exhaustive. 

• It shows that the company recognize, appreciates and respects that the employees have needs beyond their workplace,
  
  
• It helps differentiate your organisation from competitors when it comes to hiring talents and keeping the existing talents happy and feeling appreciated.
  
  
• It helps with talent retention so the company can benefit from having the best hires all across the board and become the preferred employer for job seekers to fulfil their potential.
  
  
• Group health insurance packages are simply necessary for employee protection in this day and age where diseases and viruses are spreading rapidly like the Covid-19 pandemic.
  
  
• Boost employees’ productivity as healthy people accomplish much more in less time at work, since they tend to take fewer MCs and sick days.

In summary, providing a comprehensive employee benefits package to the staff is vital to attracting top talents and at the same time improving employee engagement and reducing turnover. Getting a good employee benefits package will help the employees to build their financial safety net for the future of their families.

Need some help with offering the right type of employee benefits to your people? Cover Buddies is a premier group insurance program provider and our professional consultants can help source the most suitable package and benefits according to your budget and requirements. Drop us a line HERE or schedule a call back from us and we'll have one of our consultants reach out to you within 24 hours.