7 Popular Perks and Benefits for Malaysian Employees
Compensation is just one part of the race to attract and retain talent. There are many other pieces of the puzzle, and one of them is offering the right perks and benefits.
Having the correct mix of employee benefits goes a long way towards making employees happy, ensuring they are productive and give their best at work. Certain benefits (such as leave) are mandated by law, but most companies go above and beyond to ensure a healthy working environment.
With this, let’s check out the seven most popular perks and benefits that Malaysian companies offer their employees.
1. Health Coverage
Most, if not all large corporations in Malaysia provide medical insurance to their employees. Even many smaller enterprises offer insurance, albeit at lower coverage.
This way, should anything occur, employees can get peace of mind that their medical expenses will be covered. Whether it’s routine outpatient treatment or a more complicated procedure, the company can at least ensure that their talent’s health is taken care of. Many company medical insurance plans also cover dependents such as spouses or children.
Other types of health coverage, such as dental or optical treatment are normally provided on an expense claim basis. At some companies, employees can claim even more wellness benefits, such as gym and sports memberships or chiropractic visits.
2. Extended Parental Leave
Legally, companies have to give 60 days’ paid maternity leave (due to be increased to 98 days come 1 January 2023).
However, many employers now recognize the importance of parenthood, and are now offering much longer periods of maternity leave. Six months’ fully-paid maternity leave is not uncommon, as well as extended half-pay maternity leave.
On the other hand, paternity leave is much rarer. But companies are also increasingly offering this benefit. Paternity leave of one week is common, but some employers also give up to one month of paid paternity leave.
3. Retirement Benefits
Many employees are rightly concerned about their finances in their retirement years. While EPF and SOCSO contributions are legally mandated, there is worry that this isn’t enough, given the rising cost of living.
Hence, some employers do provide extra retirement benefits, such as contributing to a tax-deductible private retirement scheme. These schemes are available once the employee reaches a certain age – usually the retirement age of 60.
Alternatively, some employers offer extra EPF contributions over and above the mandatory 13% contribution. For example, an employer may offer a 18% contribution, which adds up to a substantial amount over time.
4. Flexible Allowances
Most companies give travel or parking allowances. However, with the rise of remote working, such allowances may not be suitable for the employee’s nature of work.
Flexible allowances let employees tailor this to their needs. For example, an employee with children may opt for a childcare allowance or more medical coverage. Employees working from home might choose to spend their benefits on productivity tools like ergonomic chairs or a second monitor. And of course, employees that travel often (like salespeople) might choose to make use of a travel allowance.
5. Professional Training and Development
For some employees, personal growth is vitally important to their motivation. In this spirit, many companies do offer employees the chance to upskill and develop new areas of talent as a benefit.
Some companies offer in-house continuous learning and training programmes, where employees can learn at their own pace. Others send employees on conferences or training programmes to learn skills connected to their job. Some also allow employees to claim expenses from attending classes of their own choice.
6. Employee Discounts
If applicable, employee discounts on company purchases are a great perk to offer. This is especially popular with retail and e-commerce companies. Aside from making employees happy, it also lets employees become familiar with the products or services they sell.
However, if this is not pertinent to your business (e.g. if you’re running a B2B business), partnering with other companies to obtain discounts or promo codes is another way to offer employee discounts.
7. Free Meals
Offering free food is a great perk that any employee would love. But it goes deeper than that. Sharing a meal as a team goes a long way towards building greater teamwork. It also enhances interpersonal bonds and breaks down barriers between colleagues.
What’s more, this perk won’t cost the company much, but it has a big impact on morale.
Keep Track of Perks and Benefits with BrioHR
Keeping track of all these perks and benefits can be daunting if done manually. However, with BrioHR’s payroll, expense claims, and leave modules you can keep track of everything in one digital space.
With 9 powerful modules, BrioHR’s software covers the entire employee journey from recruitment to onboarding, payroll and claims, to performance and analytics, and more.
This enables business owners and HR teams to truly focus on what matters most – people.
Visit briohr.com and get a free demo now.
Compensation is just one part of the race to attract and retain talent. There are many other pieces of the puzzle, and one of them is offering the right perks and benefits.
Having the correct mix of employee benefits goes a long way towards making employees happy, ensuring they are productive and give their best at work. Certain benefits (such as leave) are mandated by law, but most companies go above and beyond to ensure a healthy working environment.
With this, let’s check out the seven most popular perks and benefits that Malaysian companies offer their employees.
1. Health Coverage
Most, if not all large corporations in Malaysia provide medical insurance to their employees. Even many smaller enterprises offer insurance, albeit at lower coverage.
This way, should anything occur, employees can get peace of mind that their medical expenses will be covered. Whether it’s routine outpatient treatment or a more complicated procedure, the company can at least ensure that their talent’s health is taken care of. Many company medical insurance plans also cover dependents such as spouses or children.
Other types of health coverage, such as dental or optical treatment are normally provided on an expense claim basis. At some companies, employees can claim even more wellness benefits, such as gym and sports memberships or chiropractic visits.
2. Extended Parental Leave
Legally, companies have to give 60 days’ paid maternity leave (due to be increased to 98 days come 1 January 2023).
However, many employers now recognize the importance of parenthood, and are now offering much longer periods of maternity leave. Six months’ fully-paid maternity leave is not uncommon, as well as extended half-pay maternity leave.
On the other hand, paternity leave is much rarer. But companies are also increasingly offering this benefit. Paternity leave of one week is common, but some employers also give up to one month of paid paternity leave.
3. Retirement Benefits
Many employees are rightly concerned about their finances in their retirement years. While EPF and SOCSO contributions are legally mandated, there is worry that this isn’t enough, given the rising cost of living.
Hence, some employers do provide extra retirement benefits, such as contributing to a tax-deductible private retirement scheme. These schemes are available once the employee reaches a certain age – usually the retirement age of 60.
Alternatively, some employers offer extra EPF contributions over and above the mandatory 13% contribution. For example, an employer may offer a 18% contribution, which adds up to a substantial amount over time.
4. Flexible Allowances
Most companies give travel or parking allowances. However, with the rise of remote working, such allowances may not be suitable for the employee’s nature of work.
Flexible allowances let employees tailor this to their needs. For example, an employee with children may opt for a childcare allowance or more medical coverage. Employees working from home might choose to spend their benefits on productivity tools like ergonomic chairs or a second monitor. And of course, employees that travel often (like salespeople) might choose to make use of a travel allowance.
5. Professional Training and Development
For some employees, personal growth is vitally important to their motivation. In this spirit, many companies do offer employees the chance to upskill and develop new areas of talent as a benefit.
Some companies offer in-house continuous learning and training programmes, where employees can learn at their own pace. Others send employees on conferences or training programmes to learn skills connected to their job. Some also allow employees to claim expenses from attending classes of their own choice.
6. Employee Discounts
If applicable, employee discounts on company purchases are a great perk to offer. This is especially popular with retail and e-commerce companies. Aside from making employees happy, it also lets employees become familiar with the products or services they sell.
However, if this is not pertinent to your business (e.g. if you’re running a B2B business), partnering with other companies to obtain discounts or promo codes is another way to offer employee discounts.
7. Free Meals
Offering free food is a great perk that any employee would love. But it goes deeper than that. Sharing a meal as a team goes a long way towards building greater teamwork. It also enhances interpersonal bonds and breaks down barriers between colleagues.
What’s more, this perk won’t cost the company much, but it has a big impact on morale.
Keep Track of Perks and Benefits with BrioHR
Keeping track of all these perks and benefits can be daunting if done manually. However, with BrioHR’s payroll, expense claims, and leave modules you can keep track of everything in one digital space.
With 9 powerful modules, BrioHR’s software covers the entire employee journey from recruitment to onboarding, payroll and claims, to performance and analytics, and more.
This enables business owners and HR teams to truly focus on what matters most – people.
Visit briohr.com and get a free demo now.
