Generally speaking, there are two main categories of employment status under Maltese law – employees and self-employed individuals. Employment legislation in Malta is applicable to employees at every level of the workplace. As with English legislation, some recent legislation refers to the term ‘workers,’ which, broadly speaking, is a term encompassing employees, agency workers, contract staff and self-employed persons who are ‘dependent’ on one particular employer.

Maltese law regulates self-employment through the Employment Status National Standard Order (Subsidiary Legislation 452.108), which provides guidelines on one’s employment status classification.

There are two types of employment contracts under Maltese law – fixed-term and indefinite contracts. Different rules (including on probation, termination, and so on) apply to each type of contract.
Employees (whether engaged on a fixed-term or indefinite contract) are usually categorised as a full-timer or a part-timer.  A full-timer is a person who works an average of 40 hours per week. A part-timer under Maltese employment law is an employee who works less than the full-time weekly hours of work.  Broadly speaking, part-timers are not to be treated less favourably than full-timers with regard to the terms of their employment, including when it comes to remuneration and benefits.  Pro-rata calculations are usually applicable to part-timers.

The engagement of employees on zero-hour contracts, that is, contracts under which a worker is required to be available for work as and when needed by the employer where the employer promises payment on the basis of hours worked without guaranteeing a minimum number of paid hours to the worker, has recently been rigidly regulated by the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Regulations (Subsidiary Legislation 452.126) which transposed Directive (EU) 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union.  In light of these regulations, it is only possible to engage employees to work on zero-hour contracts in two scenarios: (i) where the nature of the activity concerned requires the availability of replacement workers on short notice and only so long as the zero-hour contract does not constitute the whole-time employment of the worker; or (ii) where the worker is a full-time student.  The Regulations still allow employers to enter into casual contracts of employment, as long as such contracts do not require that employees be available for work upon demand, and as long as workers are granted a number of minimum guaranteed paid hours.

In general, there are no specific formalities necessary for the valid formation of an employment agreement under Maltese law.

Yes, the Part-time Employees Regulations (Subsidiary Legislation 452.79) expressly state that part-time employees shall not be treated less favourably than comparable full-time employees, unless any different treatment is justified on objective grounds. Maltese law also states that part-time employees shall be paid the same hourly rate applicable to comparable full-time employees.

Generally speaking, if an employment contract is entered into between a specific company and an employee, this contract cannot be assigned unless agreed otherwise in the contract.

However, in circumstances where an employer’s business (or part of its business) is transferred to another company within the meaning of Malta’s Transfer of Business (Protection of Employment) Regulations (Subsidiary Legislation 452.85), the transferee (receiving entity) takes over the contracts of employment in place between the transferor on the same terms and conditions of employment. 

When a business is transferred as a going concern, the Transfer of Business (Protection of Employment) Regulations (Subsidiary Legislation 452.85) ("TUPE") will usually apply. Employees have a number of rights in terms of the TUPE Regulations, including:

• the right to transfer to the transferee on the same terms and conditions of employment, and this transfer happens automatically by operation of the law; 
• protection against dismissal in connection with a TUPE transfer;
• information and consultation rights.

There is no specific process enabling employees to object to or stop the transfer from taking place. The employees’ employment will be automatically transferred to the transferee, and they will not have any right to severance as their employment will be continuous.

No. All rights remain the same, as there is no change of employer.

Employers are not able to unilaterally change any material terms of employment without the employee’s consent. Employers may unilaterally make changes to workplace policies (such as disciplinary or grievance policies). They may also amend discretionary elements set out in the employment contract or in related policies.

If an employer unilaterally modifies an employee’s terms of employment, the employee may resign and file a claim for constructive dismissal, claiming that the employee was forced to resign due to a serious breach by the employer which left the employee with no option but to resign. In such cases, the employee could request compensation or, if the employee was not in a position of trust, he/she may ask to be reinstated to his/her former position.

No, Malta is not an employment-at-will jurisdiction, meaning that unless the employee is still on probation, the employment relationship cannot be terminated at will (i.e., for no reason).

In Malta, employees employed on an indefinite basis can only be terminated by the employer (i) immediately, for good and sufficient cause, or (ii) by way of notice, for reasons of genuine redundancy. Although ‘good and sufficient cause’ is not defined at law, it is generally quite a high bar, and would include misconduct such as theft, breach of confidentiality obligations, fraud, harassment, serious/prolonged underperformance, etc. As with most common law jurisdictions, the employer must show that he has a good reason for the dismissal and that a fair and reasonable procedure has been followed when implementing the dismissal.

In cases where the employee is engaged on a fixed-term contract, Maltese law stipulates that if either party wishes to terminate the employment before the time agreed upon between the parties, the defaulting party has to pay to the other party an amount which is equal to half the wages that the employee would have earned in the remaining period.

Yes, employees can file a claim with the Industrial Tribunal, claiming that they have been unfairly dismissed. In cases where an employee alleges that he/she has been unfairly dismissed, the matter must be referred to the Industrial Tribunal no later than 4 months from the date of the alleged breach. 

The most common type of Tribunal award is financial compensation, although if the employee was not in a position of trust, he/she may ask for, and be granted, reinstatement to his/her former position. There is no minimum or maximum cap on the compensatory award that the Tribunal may give in such cases.  

Yes. The Protection of the Whistleblower Act (Chapter 527 of the Laws of Malta), which was enacted in September 2013 and amended in 2021, affords protection to whistleblowers and facilitators of whistleblowers who are employees, prospective employees, outworkers, persons in employment in the public administration, seconded employees, former employees, contractors, subcontractors, shareholders, or volunteers, and who:

• make a disclosure in good faith, internally or externally, or by means of a public disclosure;
• believe the information on the improper practice by the employer to be true.

A whistleblower must file a report ‘in good faith’ in order to be protected from any disciplinary action against them.

The Whistleblower Act prohibits any detrimental action and occupational detriment against the employee, and establishes that whistleblowers who make protected disclosures shall not be liable to any civil or criminal proceedings or to disciplinary proceedings for having made such a disclosure.

Yes, employees have a right to privacy under data protection regulations. As of May 25, 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) came into force, with direct application within Malta.

The remedies available differ depending on the infringement.

Yes. The Constitution of Malta and other Maltese employment statutes protect employees from discrimination on the grounds of sex, religion, race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, creed, gender identity, disability, age, and sexual orientation. Discrimination against part-timers and persons employed on fixed-term contracts is also regulated under Maltese labour law. Discrimination in the workplace is unlawful as far as recruitment, treatment during the course of employment, and termination are concerned. With the advent of European Union membership, a number of anti-discrimination provisions with direct relevance to the workplace were included in the Employment and Industrial Relations Act, Chapter 452 of the Laws of Malta, and a number of statutory instruments were introduced.

Such instruments include the Equality for Men and Women Act (Chapter 456 of the Laws of Malta), which focuses on discrimination based on sex, and the Equal Treatment in Employment Regulations (Subsidiary Legislation 452.95), which focuses on the principle of equal treatment in relation to religion and religious belief, racial or ethnic origin, disability, age, sex and sexual orientation.

Yes:

• Vacation leave: an employee with a 40-hour working week is entitled to 192 hours of paid annual leave in addition to all Public and National Holidays. Additionally, any Public or National Holidays that fall on a Saturday, Sunday or weekly day of rest to which the employee is entitled need to be added to the employee’s vacation leave entitlement for that particular year.
• Sick leave: employees absent from work by reason of sickness have a right to receive sick pay from their employer. The number of days that may be taken as sick leave varies according to sector; however, in terms of the Minimum Special Leave Entitlement Regulations (Subsidiary Legislation 452.101), in default of an applicable Wage Regulation Order, an employee is entitled to 10 days of sick leave per year. Part of the cost may be recouped from the Social Security Department in that employers may deduct the benefits that are received by the employee from the wages due.
• Parental leave: all employees with one year's continuous service have the individual right to be granted parental leave for each child. This right subsists regardless of whether the employee is full-time or part-time, and whether employed on an indefinite or fixed-term contract. This right applies in the case of the birth, adoption, fostering or legal custody of a child, to enable the employee to take care of the child for a period of 4 months until the child has attained the age of 8 years. Employees are entitled to 4 months of parental leave, where 2 months are paid at the same rate applicable in respect of the sickness benefit entitlement under the Social Security Act (which currently amounts to EUR 23.03 per day), and 2 months are unpaid.

The 4 months parental leave entitlement does not accrue to the parent all at once, but is split into 3 tranches and must be taken and paid as follows:

• If the child is between 0 and 4 years old, the parent can apply for 2 months of parental leave of which 50% of the entitlement will be paid (1 month will be paid and 1 unpaid);
• If the child is between 4 and 6 years old, the parent can apply for 1 month of parental leave of which 25% of the entitlement will be paid (2 weeks will be paid and 2 weeks unpaid); and
• If the child is between 6 and 8 years old, the parent can apply for 1 month of parental leave of which 25% of entitlement will be paid (2 weeks will be paid and 2 weeks unpaid).

During the past 12 months, two new forms of leave were introduced:

• Miscarriage leave: as from 1st January 2026, each employee is entitled to 7 working days of paid miscarriage leave, which must be taken immediately following the miscarriage. This type of leave is available on an individual basis, both to the employee who suffers the miscarriage, and also to the other prospective parent. Employers are able to apply to the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations for a refund of the payment of miscarriage leave. Such applications are to be filed by employers within 3 months from when the miscarriage leave would have been availed of by an employee.
• Special parental bereavement leave: as from 1st January 2026, each employee is now also entitled to a new form of leave, namely special parental bereavement leave, on the occurrence of the death of a child under the age of 18 years. This new entitlement is granted over and above the already existing ‘standard’ bereavement leave, and is calculated as follows:
  • For employees who are not covered by a Wages Council Wage Regulation Order (“WRO”), the entitlement is of 6 working days;
  • For employees who are covered by a WRO, employees would be entitled to that number of working days of special parental bereavement leave which, when added to the bereavement leave established in the applicable WRO, would amount to a total of 7 working days. 

Employers are able to apply to the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations for a refund of the payment of special parental bereavement leave. Such applications are to be filed by employers within 3 months from when the special parental bereavement leave would have been availed of by an employee. 

Restrictive covenants are possible, but are not always fully enforceable. In the case of enforcement, our Courts would assess the clause on a case-by-case basis, depending on the particular circumstances of the case.

Whilst restrictive covenants are not expressly regulated at law, in order to increase the chances of enforceability, such clauses should be limited in geography, duration (not longer than 2 years, for example), and scope of activity. General/wide clauses which prohibit direct competition with the employer after the employment has been terminated would likely be declared by the Maltese courts to be unenforceable. The Maltese courts have emphasised that the limitations of geography and duration have to be reasonable within a small area such as the Maltese Islands, and an ex-employee cannot be forced to leave his/her country in order to pursue his/her vocation.

No, termination for refusing to sign a restrictive covenant would not amount to good and sufficient cause for termination. Whilst compensating the employee for the duration of the restrictive covenant can increase the chances of enforceability of the clause, the Maltese Courts have held that giving an employee adequate compensation for the restriction is not sufficient to render it enforceable.