Delivery hub
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia's capital and its largest shared-services and multilingual customer-support hub.
Minimum wage
RM1,700/month
National rate (RM8.72/hour) applying to all employers since 1 Aug 2025. Budget 2027 announced RM2,000 from June 2027, with MSMEs under RM50m in sales exempt (Malay Mail, 9 Oct 2026: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2026/10/09/budget-2027-minimum-wage-raised-to-rm2000-effective-june-2027/238424). The new rate isn't law until gazetted.
Employer contributions
EPF (Employees Provident Fund)
Employer 13% for wages up to RM5,000, 12% above; non-Malaysian employees 2%
Source: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries – MalaysiaLast checked Oct 2026SOCSO
Employer contribution capped at RM104.15/month
SOCSO uses a wage-band table. The calculator approximates it as 1.75% of wages up to the RM104.15 cap.
Source: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries – MalaysiaLast checked Oct 2026EIS (Employment Insurance System)
Employer 0.2%, capped at RM11.90/month
Source: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries – MalaysiaLast checked Oct 2026
13th-month pay
No statutory 13th-month requirement identified; pending confirmation.
Internet
Ookla Speedtest Global Index
Country median (Aug 2026): fixed 179.32 Mbps down / 72.80 up; mobile 165.32 Mbps down / 23.83 up
Country-level median, not city-specific.
Public holidays 2026
12 federal public holidays in 2026 plus state holidays. Kuala Lumpur (Federal Territory) and Penang each add their own.
Islamic and Deepavali dates are subject to change.
Regular holidays
- 17–18 Feb – Chinese New Year
- 21–22 Mar – Hari Raya Puasa*
- 1 May – Labour Day
- 27 May – Hari Raya Qurban*
- 31 May – Wesak Day
- 1 Jun – Agong's Official Birthday
- 17 Jun – Awal Muharram*
- 25 Aug – Maulidur Rasul*
- 31 Aug – National Day
- 16 Sep – Malaysia Day
- 8 Nov – Deepavali*
- 25 Dec – Christmas
State holidays
- 1 Feb – Federal Territory Day (Kuala Lumpur)
- State holidays for Penang and Kuala Lumpur: see the official state table
Power
Awaiting firsthand field notes and an official grid-reliability source.
Entity setup basics
Incorporate a Sdn. Bhd. with the Companies Commission (SSM): RM1,000 registration fee (RM50 name search), at least one director ordinarily resident in Malaysia, and a registered office. A company secretary must be appointed within 30 days. Most services allow 100% foreign equity, subject to sector licences.
Equity policy: https://www.mida.gov.my/setting-up-content/equity-policy-protect-foreign-investment/
Typical steps
- SSM incorporation (MyCoID)
- LHDN tax registration
- EPF, SOCSO and EIS employer registration
- Expatriate posts / Employment Pass approvals if hiring foreigners
Timeline and cost
Realistic timeline and cost to come from field notes.
EOR / payroll coverage
| Provider | EOR status | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Deel | Listed | Provider page |
| Remote | Listed | Provider page |
| Multiplier | Listed | Provider page |
Based on each provider's public country page. Confirm coverage, pricing and entity model directly before signing. No affiliate links.
Last checked Oct 2026Pay by role
Pay-by-role data will come from Gregory Dunham's field notes. Until then, enter your own salary in the calculator.
Field notes from Gregory Dunham – coming soon
Firsthand operator observations, kept separate from official data.
Coming soon — firsthand notes from Gregory Dunham on:
- Typical monthly pay by role
- Real-world power reliability and backup needs
- Real-world internet: providers, redundancy, outages
- Entity setup pitfalls and realistic timelines