Statutory notice period
The minimum notice an employer must give. Contracts and collective agreements can lengthen it and only rarely shorten it, and the tenure bands are where cross-border assumptions usually go wrong.
Notice under the Employment and Industrial Relations Act for indefinite contracts past probation, owed by the employee on resignation and by the employer on redundancy; dismissals for good and sufficient cause run without notice.
| Service | Employer notice | Runs |
|---|---|---|
| More than 1 month and up to 6 months of service | 1 week | pay in lieu is allowed |
| More than 6 months and up to 2 years | 2 weeks | same rule |
| More than 2 and up to 4 years | 4 weeks | same rule |
| More than 4 and up to 7 years | 8 weeks | same rule |
| More than 7 years | 1 more week per further year or part of it, up to 12 weeks | longer periods can be agreed for technical, administrative, executive or managerial posts |
Source: Notice period, Department of Industrial and Employment Relations; Notice period ladder incl. yearly steps, Welcome Center Malta. Checked on 2026-07-27.
Minimum paid annual leave
The statutory floor for paid holiday. The counting basis matters as much as the number, since some laws count a six-day week and others count working days or calendar weeks.
216 hours per year.
The 2026 figure for a forty-hour week: a hundred and ninety-two hours of basic entitlement, four weeks and four days, plus hours in lieu of the public holidays falling on weekends, three of them in 2026. The yearly total therefore moves with the calendar, and other weekly patterns scale it proportionally.
Source: Malta payroll adjustments 2026, leave entitlement, Broadwing, citing DIER; Malta payroll updates 2026, Zampa Partners. Checked on 2026-07-27.
Probation limit
The longest trial period the law allows an employer to agree, together with the notice that applies while it runs.
| Group | Maximum |
|---|---|
| General employees | 6 months |
| Technical, executive, administrative or managerial posts paid at least double the minimum wage | 12 months |
Notice while it runs: 1 week once the employment has run more than a month; no reasons owed by either side.
The first six months of any contract count as probation by default, unless the parties agree a shorter trial; the contract or a collective agreement can set another period for the senior group.
The trial protections give way for pregnant employees and new mothers.
Source: Malta employment obligations, probation, KPMG Malta; Termination framework, Department of Industrial and Employment Relations. Checked on 2026-07-27.
Employer social contributions
What the employer pays on top of gross salary into statutory schemes. Some countries charge a percentage of pay, others charge flat amounts, and a single headline rate hides caps, regional rules and industry-rated items.
Figures apply for 2026.
| Scheme | Rate, per cent of pay | Charged on |
|---|---|---|
| Social security, class one, employer shareAt and above the ceiling the contribution freezes at the flat weekly amount for the ceiling wage; separate lower ceilings apply to employees born before 1962. The tables move each January with the cost-of-living adjustment. | 10 | pay up to 559.31 EUR per week |
| Maternity leave trust fundEmployer only; finances the reimbursement of maternity-leave wages. | 0.3 | pay up to 559.31 EUR per week |
| Sum of the shares aboveRates for employees born in 1962 or later; the employee mirrors the ten per cent share. | 10.3 |
The statutory government bonuses paid quarterly sit outside the percentage table, as does the cost-of-living adjustment added to wages each January.
Source: Malta SSC 2026, class one rates, Malta Salary Calculator guide; Payroll management in Malta 2026, SSC and MLF ceilings, Konnekt Payroll; Social security contributions in Malta 2026, CSB Group. Checked on 2026-07-27.