HRDF expanding the coverage
Published on: Saturday, March 18, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: The Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) is expanding the coverage of the Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad (PSMB) Act 2001 effective April 1 this year, by streamlining its eligibility criterion to Malaysian employers across all sub-sectors within the manufacturing, services, mining and quarrying sectors which employ at least 10 local employees.The expansion would increase the number of employees eligible for training under the HRDF from the current 1.77 million to 2.8 million by 2020, an increase of 58 per cent.The expansion of the PSMB Act 2001 also is a step towards qualifying and quantifying training and development programmes that are not only able to improve core competencies of employees of HRDF registered employers, but also help towards enhancing their (the employees) overall business sense.
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In addition, the expansion is a crucial step towards the overall development of Malaysia's human capital; assisting towards increasing the number of skilled local workers from the current 31 per cent to 35 per cent by 2020 (as outlined in the Eleventh Malaysia Plan 2016-2020).The amendment of the PSMB Act 2001 also includes the expansion and increased coverage for Category Options for employers across all sub-sectors under the manufacturing, services, mining and quarrying sectors with five (5) to nine (9) local employees and the abolishment of the paid-up capital criterion for the manufacturing and mining and quarrying sectors.HRDF comes under the Ministry of Human Resources and was set up in 1993 to catalyse the development of a competent local workforce who will contribute towards Malaysia's vision of becoming a developed, high-income economy by 2020.Since its inception, HRDF has evolved in its role from managing a sizeable fund to becoming a one-stop- centre for providing novel Human Resources Development (HRD) solutions to its registered employers, particularly to the critical mass of Malaysian small medium enterprises (SMEs); which constitute approximately 80 per cent of employers registered with HRDF.
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HRDF continues to be steadfast in its effort towards encouraging employers to retrain and upgrade the skills of their local employees, apprentices and trainees in keeping with the fast evolving global business landscape while meeting their individual company's aspirations through the provision of financial assistance via grant disbursements from the collection of Human Resource Development (HRD) levy from its registered employers.As the custodian and an authoritative institution mandated by the Government to catalyse the development of a competent local workforce, HRDF's macro role is to ensure the creation and growth of quality local human capital through efficient high-skilled training certification programmes and initiatives that would contribute to a 35 per cent skilled Malaysian workforce and the creation of 1.5 million jobs by the Year 2020.
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Through the PSMB Act 2001, HRDF is committed to improving the efficiency of the local labour market which will help accelerate the nation's economic growth particularly through the country's Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs).It is also committed to transforming technical and vocational education in Malaysia to meet industry demands through the provision of training programmes which will not only enhance the productivity of a company but also enabling it to become more competitive across local, regional and global markets, and strengthening lifelong learning among Malaysian employees for skills enhancement in line with the Government's effort to transform Malaysia from middle to high income economy by the Year 2020. The HRDF also seeks to foster a culture of training and retraining among Malaysian employers, particularly employers registered with it.Through the PSMB Act 2001, HRDF imposes the collection of a Human Resources Development (HRD) levy by way of legal authority on liable employers in Malaysia. In return, employers receive financial assistance equal to the paid HRD levy paid, for training and development of their local employees. The levy paid is also used for purposes of promoting, developing and upgrading the skills of local workers, apprentices and trainees through training grants.The Human Resources Minister, in accordance with Section 19 of the PSMB Act 2001, has agreed to provide a registration grace period of six months, with effect from April 1, 2017 until September 30, 2017, to employers subject to the Act.Employers are required to register with HRDF within the mentioned grace period and in such manner as stipulated under subsection 13(1) of Act.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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