Maternity Leave
Women workers have the right to maternity leave as guaranteed under the Regulations. Maternity leave is 126 consecutive days (18 weeks). Of these 126 days, 42 days (6 weeks) are the compulsory entitlement and are taken after birth. Four weeks' leave may be taken before birth, while the remaining leave (8 weeks) may be taken immediately before or after birth, as an employee may request. If a worker is unable to avail the 4-week pre-natal leave before birth, this may be availed after confinement.
An employee must inform the employer of her intention to avail maternity leave at least four weeks before the maternity leave begins.
Under Subsidiary Legislation 452.114, a prospective parent who undergoes the process of medically assisted procreation, whether in or outside Malta, is entitled to one hundred hours of fully paid leave (payable by the employer) for medically assisted procreation.
It defines medically assisted procreation as “all treatments or procedures that include the in vitro handling of human oocytes, spermatozoa or embryos for establishing a pregnancy. This includes, but is not limited to, intrauterine insemination, in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection, embryo transfer, gamete, germinal tissue and embryo cryo-preservation and oocyte and embryo donation”. The law also defines "prospective parent" as any person, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, who has attained the age of majority and is a receiver or user of the medically assisted procreation techniques regulated under the Embryo Protection Act. The leave is sixty hours and forty hours, respectively, for the receiving and non-receiving parent.
An employee who is a prospective parent and who intends to or avails himself of leave in terms of this order shall not be dismissed by the employer by reason of the intention or availing himself of such leave.
Sources: §6 & 8 of Protection of Maternity (Employment) Regulations (S.L.452.91) as amended by Legal Notice 415 of 2014; Article 2,3, 3A, 7 of Subsidiary Legislation 452. 114 amended in 2020
Income
Workers on maternity leave are entitled to full wages during the first 14 weeks, paid by the employer. However, if an employee chooses to avail additional maternity leave beyond 14 weeks, the employer is not obliged to pay wages for those extra four weeks. A maternity leave benefit for four weeks is paid by the Government in accordance with the provisions of the Social Security Act.
In accordance with the Maternity Leave Trust Fund, launched by the government on 6 July 2015, employers will pay the equivalent of 0.3 per cent of the basic pay for every employee, irrespective of gender and age, to establish a fund from which maternity leave will be paid. The main objective of this Trust Fund is to end discrimination where employers engage more men than women to avoid the payment of wages during maternity leave.
Sources: §7 of Protection of Maternity (Employment) Regulations (S.L.452.91) as amended by Legal Notice 415 of 2014; §71-72 of Social Security Act (CAP. 318) as amended by ACT XIII of 2015 and Legal Notice 123 of 2015; https://dssservices.gov.mt/BenefitPaymentRates.aspx
Pregnancy Testing / Inquiry in Recruitment
Maltese law does not explicitly prohibit employers from asking about pregnancy during recruitment, but the Employment and Industrial Relations Act (EIRA) clearly bans discrimination based on pregnancy. This protection applies at all stages of employment, including advertising, recruiting, and selecting candidates.
Source: Equal Treatment in Employment Regulations (S.L. 452.95)
Free Medical Care
A pregnant employee is entitled to time off without loss of pay in order to attend antenatal examinations. Female workers are entitled to prenatal and post-natal care, including free confinement and hospital care.
Sources: §9 of Protection of Maternity (Employment) Regulations (S.L.452.91) as amended by Legal Notice 415 of 2014; §8 of the Protection of Maternity at Workplaces Regulations (S.L. 424.11)
