Pay transparency rules in Malta

Malta's Equal Pay (Transparency and Reporting) Regulations 2026 are already in force and apply to every employer, public or private, regardless of size. Several core duties bite immediately. In recruitment you must tell candidates the starting pay or pay range and you may not ask about their pay history. Existing workers gain a right to request, in writing, their own pay level and the average pay levels for workers doing the same work or work of equal value, broken down by sex, and you must respond within 8 days. Employers with 25 or more workers must document, internally, the gender-neutral criteria used to set pay and decide pay progression (those with fewer than 50 workers are exempt from having to make the progression criteria available to workers). Larger employers also face periodic gender pay gap reporting. Because Malta chose criminal fines rather than administrative penalties, getting this wrong is a conviction matter, so pay structures, job adverts, offer processes and internal policies should be reviewed now.

Three recruitment and information duties are now live. First, applicants have the right to receive information about the initial pay or pay range for the role, set on gender-neutral criteria, before the recruitment process concludes (Maltese commentary notes this can be provided during recruitment rather than necessarily in the advert itself). Second, employers are strictly prohibited from asking applicants about their current or previous salary. Third, existing workers have a right to information: they can ask in writing for their own individual pay level and the average pay levels, broken down by sex, for workers doing the same work or work of equal value. Maltese law firms report the employer must respond within 8 days - far faster than the Directive's two-month maximum. If a request is not met, a worker representative can pursue it within 12 days, and a worker can ultimately escalate to the equality body. Failure to provide accurate, complete information can create criminal exposure.

Gender pay gap reporting obligations scale with headcount. Employers with 250 or more workers must report annually, with the first report due by 7 June 2027. Employers with 150 to 249 workers report every three years, also starting 7 June 2027. Employers with 100 to 149 workers report every three years but only from 2031. Employers with fewer than 100 workers have no mandatory reporting (reporting is voluntary). The reports must break pay down to expose any gender pay gap. Where a pay gap report reveals a difference of at least 5% in any category of workers that cannot be justified by objective, gender-neutral criteria, and that is not corrected within six months of the report, the employer must carry out a joint pay assessment together with worker representatives to identify, explain and remedy the gap. Enforcement and monitoring sit with the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER), with involvement from the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE).

Malta enforces the regime through criminal penalties rather than administrative fines. A standard breach is punishable on conviction by a fine of between 2,500 and 7,000 euros: ordinarily 2,500 to 5,000 euros, rising to 5,000 to 7,000 euros where the breach involves a failure to apply equal pay for equal work or work of equal value on the basis of gender or intersectional discrimination. Where you hire in Malta through an Employer of Record (EOR), the EOR is the legal employer of record and therefore carries the statutory pay-transparency duties: it must run compliant offers and contracts, avoid salary-history questions, respond to worker pay-information requests within the 8-day window, document pay-setting criteria, and handle any reporting and joint pay assessment obligations that apply at the EOR's worker count in Malta. As the client business you still control the commercial pay decision and the job design, so in practice you and the EOR coordinate: you provide gender-neutral pay ranges and rationale, and the EOR ensures the legal mechanics are met. Agree responsibilities clearly in the service contract.