New-hire statutory registration checklist

One hire, four authorities, six clocks. None of them starts on the offer date — they start on the commencement of employment, which is why an offer accepted in March for a June start is a June problem.

Before the first day

Step	Applies to	Authority	Reference
Obtain prior approval to employ a foreign employee	non-citizens only	JTKSM	EA 1955 s.60K(1)
Issue a written contract with a termination clause	fixed-term or piece-work over one month	—	EA 1955 s.10
Confirm you are registered as an employer with EPF, PERKESO and LHDN	first hire	KWSP, PERKESO, LHDN	EPF Act 1991; ESSA 1969; ITA 1967
Check whether this hire crosses the HRD Corp threshold	Malaysian citizens, First Schedule industries	HRD Corp	PSMB Act 2001
Check whether this hire crosses five employees at the place of work	all	DOSH	OSHA 1994 s.29A

Section 60K approval is not a formality. It is refused where the employer has an outstanding matter under the Employment Act 1955, the Employees Social Security Act 1969, the Employees’ Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodations and Amenities Act 1990 or the National Wages Consultative Council Act 2011, and where the employer has been convicted of an offence relating to anti-trafficking in persons or forced labour. An unresolved labour case therefore blocks foreign hiring entirely.

Within the first 30 days

Deadline	Duty	Authority	Reference
Immediately on employment	Enter the employee in the register of employees	JTKSM	EA 1955 s.61
Within 7 days of becoming liable	Register as an EPF employer	KWSP	EPF Act 1991
Within 14 days of the employment	Furnish foreign employee particulars to the Director General	JTKSM	EA 1955 s.60K(3)
Within 30 days of commencement	File Form CP22	LHDN	ITA 1967 s.83(2)
On or before the 15th of the following month	First EPF, SOCSO, EIS, PCB and, where registered, HRD Corp levy remittance	KWSP, PERKESO, LHDN, HRD Corp	—

The PERKESO registration period in days is not published on the agency’s own pages, and the 30-day figure carried by most advisory sites could not be traced to an official source. Register on employment and let the contribution deadline govern in practice.

Rates that apply from the first wage month

• EPF — Third Schedule fixed amounts, not a percentage, for wages up to RM20,000. Part A: 13 per cent employer and 11 per cent employee at RM5,000 or less, 12 and 11 above. Part F: 2 per cent each way for non-citizens registered from 1 August 1998.
• SOCSO — ceiling RM6,000 since 1 October 2024. Category 1 for employees under 60: 1.75 per cent employer plus 0.5 per cent employee. Category 2 for employees 60 and over: 1.25 per cent employer only.
• EIS — 0.2 per cent each way, capped at RM6,000, for ages 18 to 60.
• HRD Corp levy — 1 per cent of wages at 10 or more citizen employees; 0.5 per cent optional at 5 to 9.
• Minimum wage — RM1,700 a month under the Minimum Wages Order 2024, with no small-employer deferment remaining.

Ongoing from day one

The register of employees under s.61 must be preserved so that every particular recorded is available for inspection for not less than six years. Section 61(3) lets the Director General approve an alternative form of record on written application.

Where this hire takes the place of work to five or more employees, s.29A of OSHA 1994 requires the employer to appoint one of his own employees as an occupational safety and health coordinator — unless a safety and health officer has already been appointed under s.29, which is deemed compliance. At 40 or more persons employed at the place of work, s.30 requires a safety and health committee.

Common mistakes

Filing CP22 from the offer date. The 30 days run from commencement of employment.

Waiting for the first payroll to register. EPF employer registration is due within 7 days of becoming liable, which precedes the contribution.

Counting non-citizens toward the HRD Corp threshold. Employee for levy purposes means a Malaysian citizen under a contract of service.

Treating the RM4,000 First Schedule threshold as a coverage switch. Paragraph 1A disapplies six provisions only. Registration, contribution and register duties are unaffected by salary.

Employing a foreign worker first and applying afterwards. Section 60K(1) is a prohibition, and the penalty reaches RM100,000 or five years.

What’s next

Put the six clocks above into your onboarding template with the section numbers attached, and re-run the headcount tests at 5, 10 and 40 employees rather than annually. The mirror-image duties on exit sit in the offboarding statutory checklist.