by S BIRRUNTHA / Pic by BERNAMA

THE Housewives’ Social Security Scheme (SKSSR) handled by the Social Security Organisation (Socso) is voluntary and husbands are not obliged to contribute for their wives.

Chief communications and corporate affairs officer Izad Raya said the Housewives’ Social Security Bill 2022 which was presented for the first reading by Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, stated that husbands are only obliged to pay contributions for their wife if he chooses to do so.

Volunteering husbands need to inform Socso after which, it could be an offence if he fails to contribute and if found guilty, the husband could be fined a maximum of RM10,000 or imprisoned for not more than two years or both.

“However, if the couple is divorced or the husband is unable to pay his wife’s contribution due to loss of income or the like, then his commitment to pay the contribution is void.

“In this case, his wife or housewives can pay the SKSSR contribution voluntarily or the payment of the contribution can also be made by any third party,” he said in a statement today.

Izad added that for situations where the husband opts to not pay the SKSSR contribution for the wife, or a housewife who does not have a husband, the contribution can be paid by the wife or housewife or a third party to Socso.

Therefore, he said, news reports published by several local media yesterday about the husband’s failure to pay Socso contributions of his wife, who is also a housewife, could be fined or jailed are inaccurate.

The matter is included in the Housewives Social Security Bill 2022 draft, which was presented for Saravanan’s first reading in the Dewan Rakyat.

The bill aims to make provisions for social security for insured housewives in the form of certain benefits to improve the health, safety, welfare and wellbeing of housewives and for related purposes.

Based on the draft bill, if the husband is unable to pay the contribution, he chooses to pay due to loss of income or for other reasons, the husband needs to inform Socso within 60 days before the end of the existing contribution period in any prescribed manner.