Malaysia’s social security framework for employees covers two main schemes: SOCSO (the Social Security Organisation, Pertubuhan Keselamatan Sosial or PERKESO, governed by the Employees’ Social Security Act 1969 — Act 4) and EIS (the Employment Insurance System, governed by the Employment Insurance System Act 2017 — Act 800). Both are administered by PERKESO.
Contribution amounts are not a simple percentage of salary. They are legislated fixed amounts organised into wage bands, published in the Third Schedule (Act 4) and Second Schedule (Act 800). When the government raises the wage ceiling — as it did in 2016, 2022, and again in October 2024 — a new schedule comes into effect. EIS itself only came into force in January 2018.
For a full legislative and administrative history, see PERKESO’s official chronology. For the current official rate tables, see PERKESO’s rate of contribution page.
| Scheme | Employer | Employee | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| SOCSO (Act 4) | — | — | — |
| EIS (Act 800) | — | — | — |
| Combined | — | — | — |
Understanding the categories
First Category applies to most employees under 60. Contributions cover both Employment Injury and the Invalidity Scheme. The employer pays 1.75% and the employee pays 0.5% of the applicable wage band amount.
Second Category applies to employees who are 60 or older, or who first registered with SOCSO after age 55. It covers Employment Injury only — no invalidity component. The employer pays 1.25% and there is no employee deduction.
EIS (Act 800) came into force on 1 January 2018 and applies to Malaysian citizens and permanent residents under 60. Both employer and employee contribute 0.2% each. Employees covered by EIS may claim job loss benefits if retrenched.
Public API
This calculator is also available as a JSON API for developers.
Endpoint: GET https://techspace.asia/api/socso
Required header: User-Agent: Techspace-API/1.0
Parameters:
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
salary | Yes | Monthly gross salary in RM (non-negative number) |
contribution_month | Yes | Month in YYYY-MM format, e.g. 2024-10. The correct rate period is applied automatically. |
category | No (default: first) | first (age < 60) or second (age 60+) |
The API automatically maps contribution_month to the correct historical rate period:
| Month range | Period applied |
|---|---|
| Jan 2016 – Dec 2017 | SOCSO ceiling RM 4,000, no EIS |
| Jan 2018 – Dec 2021 | SOCSO ceiling RM 4,000, EIS applies |
| Jan 2022 – Sep 2024 | SOCSO ceiling RM 5,000, EIS applies |
| Oct 2024 – present | SOCSO ceiling RM 6,000, EIS applies |
Rate limit: 5 requests per 20 seconds per IP.
Example:
curl "https://techspace.asia/api/socso?salary=5000&contribution_month=2024-10&category=first" \
-H "User-Agent: Techspace-API/1.0"
Response:
{
"period": { "key": "2024", "label": "Oct 2024 – present", "ceiling": 6000, "eis": true },
"salary": 5000,
"category": "first",
"socso": { "employer": 86.65, "employee": 24.75, "total": 111.4 },
"eis": { "employer": 9.9, "employee": 9.9, "total": 19.8 },
"combined": { "employer": 96.55, "employee": 34.65, "total": 131.2 },
"note": "If you believe there is an error in these computed amounts, please contact [email protected] or visit techspace.asia/contact"
}
If you believe there is an error in the computed amounts, please contact us or email [email protected].