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  1. Overview: Malta
  2. Global PEO and Payroll
  3. Global HR Compliance
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  5. Expand without a company set up
  6. Contractor vs. employee: which is better?
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Global HR Compliance in Malta

Malta is a great place to do business, and companies have many opportunities to hire a local workforce. However, it is important to understand the nuances of labor legislation in the country before making any decisions. The Hiring and Firing Workforce in Malta Guide below will help you understand the process and ensure you comply with the law.

When the company is planning to enter a new foreign market in Malta and needs to employ a local national there, the first question to answer is how it will make local hires. We have designed a Global Employer of Record service to help you outsource the global employment of your foreign workforce to companies like ours.

This solution helps you employ your global sales force in Malta as well as in the other 190 countries of the world, and provide pay and benefits to your employees, as well as administer any business expenses with our help.

A Global PEO Can Help You Replace Numerous Vendors in Malta

If you’re looking to streamline your company’s operations and get a handle on global workforce management, partnering with a global professional employer organization (PEO) can be a great solution. PEOs can provide a full suite of services to help you replace the following numerous vendors.

  1. Payroll Company
  2. Employee Benefits Broker
  3. HR Consultants
  4. Background Checks Vendors
  5. IP Attorney
  6. Tax Advisor
  7. Translation service
  8. Legal Advisor
  9. Immigration Advisor
  10. HR Compliance Advisor.
  11. Licensing Consultancy

Global Employer of Record is a 100% compliant solution that guarantees you and your employees fully comply with local legislation in Malta.

We are experts in global workforce employment in Malta, and our goal is to become your single provider. Instead of working with numerous local staffing agencies and legal advisors, Acumen International can solve your global business challenges and save you time, costs, and resources.

Our team of English-speaking professionals frees you from working through language nuances. Acumen International works 24/7 and can assist you whenever you need, regardless of time zones. Our goal is to create tailored labor solutions for you that are managed legally and in full compliance with the local employment laws.

With our knowledge and deep understanding of local nuances, you easily satisfy your need for skilled professionals in your global industry. With our qualified local partners, you can trust that your global workforce satisfies all local tax, social security, and immigration requirements in Malta.

Why Partner with Acumen Global PEO in Malta?

  1. Global employment management centralization. Maximized control. Minimized risk 
  2. A Global PEO facilitates quick talent deployment and provides access to various employee benefits solutions to attract and retain your global talent.
  3. Eliminating and mitigating certain employment-related risks, including non-compliance and employee misclassification, through the shared responsibility and co-employment arrangement
  4. Scalable technology and infrastructure provided via the global PEO relationship
  5. Reduced and stable global employment management-related cost
  6. A global PEO can facilitate risk-free, quick, and easy market entry by acting as your local legal entity, helping you to avoid the cost and time associated with incorporating in 190 countries
  7. A global PEO allows you to make your global expansion 100% compliant and secure by keeping track and adhering to all local laws and regulations
  8. A global PEO helps you remain agile and scales up or down in your selected foreign markets according to your business needs.
  9. A global PEO facilitates global employment consistency and HR compliance

Employment Contracts in Malta

Maltese labor law is mainly based on contractual agreements between the employer and the employee, provided that the work conditions established by law are observed. Thus, while certain conditions of employment are strictly regulated as legal, other conditions remain wholly parties that agree if they are also considered objectively reasonable.

Work contracts can be concluded for a certain period or an indefinite period.

Fixed-term Contracts in Malta

A contract with a fixed term can be consistently updated to a maximum period of 4 years, after which the employee is considered to be imprisoned for an indefinite period. An exception occurs when the employer has reasonable grounds for retaining the employee on a fixed-term contract. An employee whose fixed-term contract has expired and is retained at work will also be deemed to have been concluded for an indefinite period if the employer does not produce a new service contract within 12 days after the previous contract’s expiration. A contract with a fixed term of up to four years of continuous employment automatically qualifies the employee for an indefinite contract if the employer has no justified reasons for ending it.

Employment in Malta is always linked to an employment contract, in which the employee legally agrees to perform a specific job for the employer in exchange for remuneration.

Contracts can be for a fixed or indefinite period, as well as for part-time or full-time work. The contract must be in English and/or Maltese.

Employment Regulations in Malta

Working Hours in Malta

Usually, normal work hours (excluding overtime) are based on 40 hours per week. However, in some cases that can be established by law, normal hours of operation may be longer but not exceed an average of 48 hours per week for a control period of 17 weeks. In some sectors, the manufacturing and tourism sectors, the reference period is one year.

The employer can ask the employee to work more than 48 hours per week. However, the relevant employee must have written consent in such a case. If the employee does not consent, the employer cannot be forced or the victim of this particular employee due to his refusal. On the other hand, if consent is given, the employer must ensure that the employee is provided with daily rest and weekly rest periods provided for by law. Employees are entitled to one day off per week and must have 11 consecutive hours of rest between working days.

Probation Period in Malta

A probationary or probation period of six months is the norm, and employment can be terminated without the cause of either party with a one-week notice (if the work period has exceeded one month). If the contract is terminated due to redundancy, the employee has the right to re-employment if the position becomes available within one year. Employees become redundant based on the last line.

During the probationary period, either party may cease working without any reason. The notice of the termination of work for the week must be transferred to the other party in the case of an employee who has worked continuously for the same employer for more than one month.

Annual Leave in Malta

By law, the employee is entitled to 192 hours of paid annual leave (that is, at least the equivalent for four (4) weeks and four (4) working days calculated based on a 40-hour workweek and an 8-hour day). If the average normal hour (excluding overtime), calculated over 17 weeks, is less than 40 hours per week, the leave clearance in hours should be adjusted accordingly.

Vacations begin to accumulate from the beginning of work. This can be achieved in an agreement between the employer and the employee. When an employee is at work for less than 12 months, he/she is entitled to a proportional annual leave. Leave must be granted in consultation with the employer. The employer must approve the application for leave before the employee can continue his vacation.

Leave can be accepted within a few hours by mutual agreement with the employer. Otherwise, if there is no agreement between the employer and the employee, leave should be granted as a whole day.

Parental Leave in Malta

A pregnant worker can apply for maternity leave for a continuous period of 16 weeks (16) with full pay.

To the extent practicable, a pregnant worker who intends to exercise the right to maternity leave should notify the employer of the date when she intends to exercise this right at least four weeks before maternity leave begins, to the extent practicable feasible.

A pregnant worker has the right to leave without loss of salary or any other benefit to participating in antenatal examinations if such examinations are to be held during business hours. If the female worker does not resume work or, after resuming work, refuses her employer’s service without a proper and sufficient reason within six months of the date of such renewal, she will be liable for paying the employer the equivalent of the salary she received during the leave on leave pregnancy and childbirth.

During the maternity leave, the employee will be entitled to all rights and benefits that may be accrued to other employees of the same class or employment category at the same place of work, including the right to apply for advancement in the workplace and upon return to work, she will have the right to return to the same job. If this is no longer possible for a good reason, the employee must return to the equivalent work corresponding to her initial employment contract.

During the holiday, the employee will not be entitled to any bonus or benefit related to productivity or production.

Employees who worked for the same employer for at least twelve months are eligible for parental leave. Both men and women have the right to receive unpaid leave to care for the child on the following grounds: adoption; or custody of a child to enable them to take care of the child for a three-month period, which will be used in the specified months until the child reaches the age of eight.

Sick Leave in Malta

Employees are entitled to not less than the equivalent in the hours of two working weeks in each year of sick leave without loss of wages.

A medical certificate must be presented to the employer in cases of illness. If a medical certificate does not cover a lack of work, you need to look for other measures (for example, applying for leave).

The employer is only required to pay wages in the amount of sick leave permitted by law. If the employee is still sick after he or she has exhausted all rights to sick leave, he/she will continue to receive sickness benefits from Social Security, to which he or she may be entitled.

Overtime in Malta

Any hours of work that exceed normal hours of work are considered overtime. The basic regulations governing overtime can be summarized as follows:

  • no employee should work more than 48 hours for seven days unless the employer has received the consent of the employee for such work;
  • no employee should be harmed by his employer, as he/she does not wish to give his consent for the performance of such work;
  • the employer keeps the latest records of all employees who perform such work, which must specify a certain number of hours of work of the employee, the record of which should be available to the Director responsible for labor and production relations. These records should be kept for at least two years from the date of their manufacture;
  • the employer shall provide the Director, at his request, with information on cases where workers are given the consent to perform work exceeding 48 hours within seven days.

Any written agreement in accordance with what is stated above can be completed by the employee, giving at least seven days’ written notice to his employer or any other longer period not exceeding three months stipulated in the written agreement.

Minimum Salary in Malta

Malta has a minimum wage established by the government, and no worker in Malta can be paid less than this mandatory minimum wage. The Government of Malta can punish employers in Malta who can’t pay the minimum wage.

The minimum wage in Malta is the lowest amount an employee can pay for his work legally. Most countries have a nationwide minimum wage, which all employees must pay.

The minimum wage in Malta is € 168.01 per week, combined with an annual mandatory bonus of $ 270.20 and an annual cost of living of € 242.32, automatically adjusted for inflation. This rate applies to all employees. The minimum wage for Malta was last changed from January 01, 2016.

Employee Dismissal

Upon termination of a service contract that lasts more than one month, the employer must provide him, at the request of the employee, a certificate of the duration of employment, the nature of the work or services performed and, if the employee so desires, the reason for the termination of the contract and the amount of labor payment. The employer is not obliged to indicate the reason for the termination of employment if the occupation was terminated during the probationary period.

A fixed-term contract may be terminated during the applicable probationary period without specifying any reason. However, a one-week notice (either party) applies if the employment exceeds one month. If there is no justified reason for the termination of work that is on a certain basis after the probationary period, the party violating the agreement can pay to the other party an amount equal to half of the total wage that would have been accrued, the contract of employment remained in force.

In situations of redundancy in the workplace, fixed-term employees are also affected by the latter’s procedures in / the first in the same category as other employees on perpetual contracts. Employees who suffer so much redundancy are entitled to compensation, as indicated in the above paragraph.

When an employee refuses to work and/or does not give notice, he is obliged to pay the employer an amount equal to half of the salary that will be paid for the notification period that has not been processed.

If the employee working in the notification decides not to continue working during the notification period, he also has to pay to the employer an amount equal to half of the salary that will be paid for the remaining notice period.

If the employer decides not to allow the employee to work or continue to work with the notification, at the time of notification or during the work of the notification, the employer is obliged to pay to the employee an amount equal to the total wage that will be paid for the unexpired notice period. Upon receipt of notification from the employer, the employee has the right to either continue working during the notification period or to ask the employer to pay him an amount equal to half of the salary that will be paid in respect of the remaining notice period.

If the employee decides to stop working at any time while working with the notice, the employer is also required to pay the employee an amount equal to half of the salary that will be paid in respect of the remaining notice period.

If the employer chooses not to allow the employee to work or not to continue working with the notification, the employer is obligated to pay the employee the amount equal to the full salary that will be paid in respect of the remaining notice period.

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