Govt mulls EPF for interns

Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the government is mulling the possibility of giving Employees Provident Fund (EPF) benefits to interns.

“At the Communications Ministry, we will look at this as well, for interns within our jurisdiction.

“They include (those attached with) media and production companies,” he said, reported Malay Mail. 

He noted that this was one of the issues previously highlighted by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

He pointed out that although interns receive allowances from their host companies, they generally lack social protection.

He made these remarks after attending the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Bernama and the Social Security Organisation (Socso).

Following the signing of the MoU, nearly 500 freelancers in the news media industry will receive Social Security Organisation (Socso) contributions from the government for a full year.