What The EIS Actually Provides
You lost your job and heard there is a separate scheme that can help with income.
The Employment Insurance System, often shortened to EIS or SIP, is a government scheme that exists alongside, not instead of, any dismissal claim you may be considering.
What It Means
It provides temporary financial help to employees who lose their jobs involuntarily, such as through retrenchment, company closure, or an accepted separation scheme.
Support can include a Job Search Allowance paid for three to six months, along with other assistance such as training, though a claim must be lodged within 60 days of your termination.1
Why It Matters To You
This deadline runs separately from the 60-day window for an unfair dismissal claim, even though both happen to share the same length of time.
Losing track of one because you are focused on the other is a common, avoidable mistake, so it helps to treat them as two distinct clocks from day one.
How Do You Claim It
Applications are made through PERKESO, the body that administers this scheme, using your termination details and employment records from your former employer.
If your job ended through retrenchment and you also believe the redundancy was not genuine, you can pursue that separately while your EIS claim runs its own course.
Check your unfair dismissal filing window too, using the deadline calculator, so neither deadline slips past you.
Telling us how your job ended helps us explain whether this income support scheme is likely to apply to you.
Common questions
Can I claim EIS and also file an unfair dismissal claim?
Yes, these are separate processes with different purposes. EIS provides short-term income support, while an unfair dismissal claim addresses whether the dismissal itself was fair.
Does EIS apply if I resigned myself?
It is aimed at employees who lose work involuntarily, such as through retrenchment or closure. A straightforward voluntary resignation would not usually qualify under this scheme.
Sources
- The Employment Insurance System gives temporary financial help, including a Job Search Allowance for three to six months, to employees who lose their jobs involuntarily, and a claim must be lodged within 60 days of termination. malaysia.gov.my, Employment Insurance Scheme (EIS)
Keep reading
Telling us how your job ended helps us explain whether this income support scheme is likely to apply to you.