Maid insurance in Malaysia: the mandatory cover for foreign domestic helpers
Employing a foreign domestic helper in Malaysia comes with real registration and insurance obligations, separate from PERKESO protection. Here is what employers are required to arrange.
Employers of foreign domestic helpers in Malaysia carry two separate sets of obligations that are easy to conflate: registering the helper with PERKESO (SOCSO) for social security protection, and arranging the hospitalisation and surgical insurance that the Immigration Department requires as a condition of the work pass. Both are mandatory, both involve real penalties for non-compliance, and neither substitutes for the other.
PERKESO protection: LINDUNG PEKERJA
Since 1 June 2021, domestic workers — a category PERKESO defines as anyone employed exclusively in work connected to a private dwelling, which explicitly includes housemaids alongside personal drivers, gardeners, cooks, caregivers and nannies — are covered under the Employees' Social Security Act 1969 and the Employment Insurance System Act. Registration and contribution payment to PERKESO are mandatory for both the employer and the domestic worker.
For a foreign domestic worker specifically, the protection mirrors what applies to foreign workers generally: the Employment Injury Scheme (covering accidents connected to the job, in force since 1 January 2019 for foreign workers) and the Invalidity Scheme (covering permanent incapacity, in force since 1 July 2024), with an additional Non-Employment Injury Scheme — LINDUNG 24 JAM — covering accidents outside working hours, being phased in from 1 June 2026. Contribution rates for foreign workers are shared between employer and worker across these schemes, and they step up in phases as the newest scheme is rolled out over its first several years.
Failing to register a domestic worker, or failing to pay the required contributions, is an offence under the Employees' Social Security Act, carrying a fine of up to RM10,000, imprisonment of up to two years, or both. This is a real compliance exposure for employers, not a formality.
The separate, Immigration-linked hospitalisation and surgical scheme
Registering with PERKESO does not cover a foreign domestic helper's ordinary hospitalisation and surgical costs — that sits under a different, Immigration-linked requirement generally referred to as SKHPPA (Foreign Workers Hospitalisation and Surgical Scheme). Insurers active in this market design their products specifically for employers of foreign workers across sectors including domestic help, and a published example illustrates the shape of the cover: daily hospital room and board up to RM160 for up to 30 days, intensive care cover for up to 15 days, in-hospital physician visits for up to 30 days, and an annual maximum overall limit of RM20,000. This scheme is typically sold alongside a Foreign Workers Insurance Guarantee, which covers the security deposit the Immigration Department requires as part of employing a foreign worker — a financial guarantee, distinct from the medical cover itself.
Two obligations, not one
It helps to keep the two strands separate when you are arranging cover for a helper:
- PERKESO / LINDUNG PEKERJA — social security protection against employment injury, invalidity and (from 2026, phased in) non-employment accidents, funded by monthly contributions shared between employer and worker, registered through PERKESO directly.
- SKHPPA hospitalisation and surgical insurance, plus the Immigration guarantee — a commercial insurance policy an employer buys, meeting an Immigration Department requirement tied to the helper's work pass, covering hospital and surgical costs up to the policy's limits.
Neither one is optional if you employ a foreign domestic helper, and satisfying one does not satisfy the other.
What employers should check
- Is the domestic worker registered with PERKESO, and are monthly contributions being paid on time — via the ASSIST portal or the Prihatin app's advance payment option?
- Is the SKHPPA hospitalisation and surgical policy current, and does its annual limit and room-and-board allowance reflect realistic hospital costs in your area?
- Is the Foreign Workers Insurance Guarantee, covering the Immigration security deposit, still valid and renewed alongside the medical cover?
- Do you understand what LINDUNG 24 JAM will add once it is phased in from 1 June 2026, and the contribution rate schedule that comes with it?
Talk to an advisor
Getting both the PERKESO registration and the SKHPPA hospitalisation cover right protects both you as an employer and the person working in your home. A licensed advisor can confirm which policies and registrations you already have in place and what, if anything, is missing. Use the portal's matching to find one, or ask our assistant about your specific obligations as an employer of a foreign domestic helper.
Sources
This content is educational information from a licensed advisor, not financial advice. Product details vary by insurer — verify specifics with an advisor.
