SOCSO contribution table in Malaysia (2026)

SOCSO is not a percentage you can multiply out. PERKESO gazettes a ringgit amount for each wage band, and the employer column carries roundings that no single formula reproduces. Here is how the 2026 table behaves, which category applies to whom, and what changes on 1 June 2026.

Figures verified June 2026 against KWSP, PERKESO, LHDN and HRD Corp guidance. General information, not tax or legal advice.

How SOCSO contributions work

SOCSO, administered by PERKESO under the Employees' Social Security Act 1969 (Act 4), is funded by contributions from both the employer and the employee. Unlike EPF, it is a lookup, not a calculation: PERKESO publishes a table of wage bands and the exact ringgit amount payable in each.

The contribution ceiling has been RM6,000 of monthly wages since 1 October 2024. Above that, everyone contributes the top band amount, so SOCSO stops growing with salary. The table is unchanged for 2026.

Category 1 and Category 2

Which scale applies depends on the employee's age and registration history, not on their salary.

• Category 1 — employees under 60. Covers both the Employment Injury Scheme and the Invalidity Scheme. Employer and employee both contribute.
• Category 2 — employees aged 60 and over, and employees first registered at 55 or older with no prior contributions. Covers the Employment Injury Scheme only, and is paid entirely by the employer; the employee contributes nothing.

The second limb of Category 2 catches people out. An employee first registered at 55 or older has the Invalidity Scheme closed to them, so they sit in Category 2 even before they turn 60.

Contribution table extract

The full schedule runs to 65 bands. The extract below spans the range so you can see the shape and check a figure; take the complete table from PERKESO's own publication rather than a copy.

Reading the bands correctly

Bands are lower-exclusive and upper-inclusive. A wage of exactly RM4,000 falls in the RM3,900 to RM4,000 band, not the one above it. Getting this backwards shifts one band for every employee whose salary lands on a round number, which in practice is most of them.

What counts as wages

SOCSO wages include salary and most cash payments made to the employee. Because the ceiling binds at RM6,000, the distinction only changes the answer for employees below that threshold; above it the top band applies whatever the composition of pay.

Lindung 24 Jam (SKBBK) from June 2026

From 1 June 2026, PERKESO adds Lindung 24 Jam, known as SKBBK: a separate, employee-only contribution that extends cover to accidents outside working hours. It is gazetted as an extra employee column inside the same Act 4 table, sharing the identical wage bands.

• Compulsory for foreign workers, and voluntary for Malaysian citizens, who contribute only if they opt in. PERKESO's published wording does not clearly settle permanent-resident treatment, so employers should confirm it before remittance.
• It is a banded table, not a flat percentage. The top band is RM44.65, where a flat 0.75% of RM6,000 would give RM45.00.
• It requires existing SOCSO cover. An employee outside Act 4 has no SKBBK line.
• Category makes no difference: Category 1 and Category 2 employees pay the same SKBBK amount.
• The first remittance covers June 2026 wages and is due by 15 July 2026.

Nothing about the core SOCSO figures changes on that date — the Act 4 amounts for 2026 are the same as 2025. SKBBK is an addition alongside them, and it appears as its own payslip line rather than being folded into the SOCSO deduction.

Paying and reporting

• Contributions for a wage month are payable to PERKESO by the 15th of the following month.
• SOCSO and EIS are remitted together through PERKESO's ASSIST portal, on a combined contribution file.
• For year-end reporting, employee SOCSO is folded into the SOCSO total on Form EA; the LHDN form has no separate SKBBK line.