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All employment is covered by Maltese employment Law. Every HR professional who is working in Malta needs to understand what the differences are between EU and Maltese employment Law. There are currently 31 Wage Regulation Orders (WROs) that must also be followed depending upon the company sector.

Working conditions such as leave and sickness absence are governed by the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations.

All information on work visas and immigration questions Identita are the authorised body that deals with this

Malta Pay Transparency Regulations – Brief Overview

The purpose of the new rules is to strengthen the existing principle of equal pay for men and women carrying out equal work or work of equal value. 

Key requirements for employers

Salary information when recruiting                                                                                                                                          Job applicants have the right to receive information about the initial salary or salary range for the position. This must be based on objective, gender-neutral criteria.
Previous salary                                                                                                                                                                          Employers cannot ask candidates about their current or previous salary/pay history.
Recruitment                                                                                                                                                                                Job titles and vacancy notices must be gender-neutral, and recruitment must be conducted in a non-discriminatory manner.
Pay structures                                                                                                                                                                            Employers must use pay structures which allow equal work/work of equal value to be assessed using objective, gender-neutral criteria, including factors such as skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions.
Pay and progression criteria                                                                                                                                               Employees must have access to the criteria used to determine pay, pay levels and pay progression.
Employee information rights                                                                                                                                               Employees have enhanced rights to request information concerning their own pay and comparative pay information for employees performing the same work or work of equal value.
Pay secrecy                                                                                                                                                                           Employees cannot be prevented from disclosing their pay where this is for the purpose of enforcing their right to equal pay.
Gender pay reporting                                                                                                                                                            Maltese employers with 100 or more employees have additional reporting obligations, including Gender Pay Gap Reports and, where required, joint pay assessments.

Implementation and reporting dates

The Regulations were published on 5 June 2026, immediately before the EU transposition deadline of 7 June 2026. The Maltese Government subsequently confirmed that the regulations had come into force in June 2026.

The reporting obligations are phased according to workforce size:

  • 250+ employees: first gender pay gap report by 7 June 2027, then annually.
  • 150–249 employees: first report by 7 June 2027, then every three years.
  • 100–149 employees: first report by 7 June 2031, then every three years.
  • Under 100 employees: the EU Directive does not impose the standard mandatory gender pay-gap reporting cycle, although the general transparency and equal-pay requirements remain relevant. 

What this means practically for an employer in Malta

From June 2026 employers should already be operating compliant recruitment and pay-transparency practices rather than viewing this simply as a reporting requirement beginning in 2027. Employers should now be reviewing job adverts and recruitment procedures, salary ranges, job grading, pay progression criteria, employment documentation/pay confidentiality provisions and the methodology used to determine whether different roles constitute "work of equal value." 

HR together can support with these changes