SUBANG JAYA: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry has called on the public sector to employ more disabled people (OKU) in the workforce in order to achieve their one per cent employment target.
Its Deputy Minister Hannah Yeoh said the ministry is encouraging this move to be implemented in both the public and private sectors.
She said if the government sector can fulfill the target, hence, they will have the authority to tell the private sector to follow suit.
"The Education Ministry records the highest number of employees with disabilities at 1,477.
"However, on the percentage rate, the Rural and Regional Development Ministry has the highest percentage with 1.87 per cent, followed by my ministry with 1.75 per cent.
"The ministry is targeting to achieve a total of 12,811 disabled (OKU) employees to be involved in the workforce but as of this year, there are only 3,782 OKU employees registered in the work field.
"We have to start from the government sector first and that is why we encourage them to employ more disabled people. If they can fulfill that one per cent target, they can advice the private sector to do the same," she said at the P3KU Carnival launching ceremony, here, today.
Yeoh said there is no time frame to achieve the targeted percentage however the ministry is making the effort to encourage more OKU employees to work in the government sector.
She also said employers can enjoy tax deduction if they hire disabled employees.
"If they (employer) hire an OKU employee for RM1,000 a month, which would mean RM12,000 a year, the employer will get tax deduction worth RM24,000.
"They will get double tax deductions if they hire a disabled person. This is one of the benefits that they can enjoy," she added.
Employers can also enjoy single deductions for any modifications to their building and double deductions for any training provided to OKU staff, Yeoh said, adding that as of Nov 18 this year, there are 487,904 OKUs nationwide registered under the ministry.
Commenting on the autism sub-categories on the OKU card which is to enable them access to more specific services, Yeoh said the matter is still under discussion.
Meanwhile, at the carnival programme earlier today, Yeoh pledged to donate RM10,000 to P3KU, a non-governmental organisation catering to special needs children, formed by a group of parents.