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| Vacation Leave |
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| Description |
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| Vacation Leave entitlements to employees. Every employee with a 40-hour
working week is entitled to paid annual leave of at least the equivalent in
hours of four weeks and thirty-two hours (192 hours).
When a Public Holiday falls on any day of the week (from Monday to Sunday) and
the full-time employee is not scheduled to work from midnight to midnight of
such day as part of the normal weekly roster (being an off-day of the
employee), the equivalent in hours of one working day is to be added to the
employee’s vacation leave entitlement. Such extra day of vacation leave is to
be added to the employee’s vacation leave entitlement on the day of such Public
Holiday. |
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Questions
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Answers
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How much vacation leave is an employee entitled
to?
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An employee working an average of 40 hours per
week is entitled to 192 provided that Public Holiday falls on any day of the
week (from Monday to Sunday) and the full-time employee is not scheduled to work
from midnight to midnight of such day as part of the normal weekly roster
(being an off-day of the employee), the equivalent in hours of one working day
is to be added to the employee’s vacation leave entitlement. If such average
normal hours (excluding overtime) is below or exceeds 40 hours per week, the
vacation leave entitlement in hours should be adjusted accordingly.
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From when does vacation leave start to accrue?
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Vacation leave starts to accumulate as from
commencement of employment.
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How much is the vacation leave entitlement of a
worker who is employed for less than one calendar year?
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When an employee is in employment for less than
one calendar year, s/he shall be entitled to a proportionate amount of annual
leave.
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Can employees choose to take leave whenever they
want to?
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Though it is the employee’s right to choose when
to apply for leave, the application for leave has to be approved by the
employer before an employee can proceed with leave. The employer may approve
or refuse an application for leave, taking into consideration the exigencies
of work.
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Can an employee be allowed to avail leave in
hours as part of his/her working day?
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By mutual agreement with the employer, leave can
be taken in hours. Otherwise, if there is no agreement between the employer
and the employee, leave has to be availed of as a whole day.
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Is it possible for an employee to get paid for
the annual leave instead of availing the entitlement?
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A minimum period equivalent to four weeks (160
hours) cannot be replaced by any allowance, except where the worker’s
employment is terminated.
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Can vacation leave be carried forward to the
following year?
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The employee should seek to utilise his/her
vacation leave entitlement during the same calendar year when it is due. If
not applied for, the employee cannot claim payment. It is only possible to
carry forward up to 50% of the annual leave entitlement to the following year
if there is an agreement with the employer.
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If an employee has his/her employment terminated,
what happens to the outstanding vacation leave of the year that is due to the
employee upon termination date?
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Upon termination from employment, an employee has
the right to claim financial compensation for any balance of outstanding
leave that is due.
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| Urgent Family Leave |
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Description
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Question
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Answer
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What arrangements are there for an employee to
take urgent leave for private and personal reasons?
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The employee is entitled to a total of fifteen
hours with pay per year as time off for urgent family reasons. These hours
are to be deducted from the annual leave entitlement of the employee. Such
urgent leave has to be related to cases of sickness or accident to members of
the immediate family of the employee.
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| Sick Leave |
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| Description |
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| Sick Leave entitlement |
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Questions
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Answers
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How much is the amount of sick leave entitlement?
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The amount of sick leave varies substantially
according to the relevant sector of industry. The applicable amount of sick
leave entitlement is provided in:
The relevant WRO that regulates the specific sector
of industry; or
Where the sector is not covered by a WRO, an
employee is entitled to two working weeks of sick leave annually (calculated
in hours).
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If an employee needs to go for blood donation or
to attend hospital as an outpatient, is this absence from work deducted from
his/her sick leave entitlement?
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In occasions of sickness, a medical certificate
has to be presented to the employer. If the absence from work is not covered
by a medical certificate, other arrangements (like applying for leave) have
to be sought.
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What happens if an employee exceeds all his/her
sick leave entitlement?
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The employer is only required to issue wages for
the amount of sick leave entitlement provided by law. If an employee remains
sick after having exhausted all the sick leave entitlement, s/he will only
continue to receive the Sickness benefit from the Social Security to which
s/he may be entitled.
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| Injury Leave |
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| Description |
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| Injury leave hours and accrued entitlements. |
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Questions
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Answers
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Does an employee get paid if injured while on
duty?
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Yes, employees are entitled to a maximum period
of one year injury leave on full pay, less the full amount of any injury
benefit to which such employee may be entitled in terms of the Social Security
Act, if s/he is injured during the actual discharge of his duty and not due
to contributory negligence on her/his part or to any contravention of safety
rules laid down by the employer.
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While being on Injury Leave, do accrual of annual
leave and bonuses continue?
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Yes, vacation leave and bonuses will continue to
accrue.
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| Marriage Leave |
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Description
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Additional leave which is granted to employees who have just married.
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Question
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Answer
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If an employee gets married is s/he entitled to
any special leave?
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Employees are entitled to paid marriage leave
according to the relevant Wage Regulation Order that regulates the specific
sector of industry in which they are employed. The entitlement may vary
depending on the regulation. Where the type of activity of work is not
regulated by any W.R.O., the employee is entitled to two working days as
marriage leave.
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| Jury Service Leave |
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| Description |
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| Additional
leave which is granted to employees who are called for jury service. |
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Question
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Answer
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If an employee is called for jury service, will
this absence from work be deducted from the vacation leave entitlement of the
employee?
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No. The employee enjoys jury service leave
without loss of wages as long as it is necessary.
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| Court Witness Leave |
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| Description |
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| Leave to serve as witnesses in court. |
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Answer
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Is an employee who is summoned to appear in court
as a witness entitled to special leave?
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There is no entitlement at law to special leave
to attend court as a witness except in the case of workers in the hospital
and clinics sector who are allowed special paid leave to attend court as witness
in relation to police cases.
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Bereavement Leave
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| Description |
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| Bereavement leave is additional leave which is granted to an employee on the occasion of the death of the spouse, parent, son, daughter, brother or sister of the employee. |
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Question
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Answer
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An employee’s family member passed away, is s/he
entitled to any special leave?
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If the conditions of work of an employee are
regulated by a Wage Regulation Order, the worker is allowed paid bereavement
leave on the occasion of the death of a wife, civil partner, husband, mother,
father, son, daughter, brother or sister of the employee. The entitlement may
vary depending on the Wage Regulation Order. Where the type of activity of
work is not regulated by any W.R.O., the employee is entitled to one working
day bereavement leave.
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| Birth Leave |
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| Description |
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| Birth leave is additional leave granted to a father on the occasion of the birth of his child. |
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Question
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Answer
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Does the birth of a child entitle the employee to
additional leave?
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If the conditions of work of an employee are
regulated by a Wage Regulation Order, the worker is allowed birth leave on
full pay on the occasion of the birth of a child to his wife. The entitlement
may vary depending on the Wage Regulation Order. Where the type of activity
of work is not regulated by any W.R.O., the employee is entitled to one
working day birth leave.
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Maternity Leave
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| Description |
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| Additional
Leave entitlement in case of maternity. |
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Questions
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Answers
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What is the amount of maternity leave that an
employee is entitled to?
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A pregnant employee can resort to maternity leave
for an uninterrupted period of eighteen (18) weeks:
· First fourteen (14) weeks with full wages paid by the employer,
· Remaining four (4) weeks are optional and unpaid by the employer. However, if
the employee chooses to avail herself of the four weeks optional maternity
leave, or part thereof, the employee can apply to the Maternity Leave Benefit
in terms of the Social Security Act to which the employee may be entitled.
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How should maternity leave be availed of?
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The employee has to notify her employer in
writing of the date when she intends to avail herself of such entitlement at
least four weeks before its commencement, in so far as is reasonably
practicable. The employee is obliged to avail herself of six (6) weeks of the
total entitlement immediately after the date of confinement. Another four (4)
weeks are to be taken immediately before the expected date of confinement,
unless agreed otherwise between the employer and the employee. The remaining
balance of entitlement to be availed of, in whole or in part may be taken,
either immediately before or immediately after the aforementioned periods, as
the employee may decide.
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Is a pregnant worker entitled to take time off to
attend ante-natal examinations?
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An employee is entitled to time off without loss
of pay or any other benefit, in order to attend ante-natal examinations, if
such examinations have to take place during her hours of work.
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When an employee resumes work after maternity
leave, does she have the right to be reinstated in her former post?
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On termination of maternity leave, the employee
has the right to resume work in the post formerly occupied on the
commencement of the maternity leave and if such post is no longer available,
to a related post.
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What are the consequences if an employee resigns
from work immediately after making use of her maternity leave?
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Where a female employee resigns from employment
without good and sufficient cause within six months from the date she resumes work after availing herself of
maternity leave, she shall be liable, to pay the employer a sum equivalent to
the wages she received during such maternity leave.
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Should an employee who is pregnant, breastfeeding
or has recently given birth be exposed to hazards at the place of work?
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If there are risks at work that could jeopardise
the employee’s health and safety and/or the pregnancy, such employee is
entitled to special maternity leave as long as the risk exists.
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| Parental Leave |
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| Description |
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| Unpaid Parental Leave applicable to employees who are parents, adoptive parents or foster carers. |
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Questions
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Answers
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What are the rights of an employee if s/he needs
to take a period of time-off from employment to be able to look after his/her
children?
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Both male and female workers who have been at
least 12 months in continuous service with their employer have the individual
right to be granted unpaid parental leave on the grounds of birth, adoption,
fostering or legal custody of a child to enable them to take care of that
child for a period of four months until the child has attained the age of
eight years.
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If an employee who has used parental leave
changes his/her employer, is he/she entitled to a fresh parental leave
entitlement?
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The employee’s balance of parental leave is
transferred to the new employment. The employee is not entitled to a fresh
parental leave entitlement.
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Adoption Leave
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| Description |
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| Additional Leave applicable to employees who are the parents of an adopted child. |
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Questions
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Answers
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What is the leave entitlement in case of an
adoption?
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Parents in employment shall be entitled to
uninterrupted adoption leave of 18 weeks, 14 weeks of which are to be paid
with full wages. The employee may apply for benefits from the Department of
Social Security for the last 4 weeks which are not paid by the employer.
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Are both parents entitled to this adoption leave?
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If both persons are in employment, then the 18
weeks can be split as agreed in writing by the parents. If only one person is
in employment, then the 18 weeks may be enjoyed by that parent. The same
applies to a single parent.
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When may I take adoption leave?
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Adoption leave may be taken whenever a child is
adopted and shall start from the date when the child passes into the care and
custody of adoptive parent or parents.
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IVF Leave
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| Description |
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| Paid
Leave applicable to prospective parents who undergo IVF treatment in Malta or
abroad. |
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Questions
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Answers
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What is the leave entitlement in cases where a
couple needs to go through IVF treatment?
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Prospective parents who undergo IVF treatment in
Malta or abroad are entitled to 100 hours of leave with full pay. These 100
hours shall be shared with 60% going to receiving parent and 40% going to the
other prospective parent. These 100 hours may be used in a non-continuous
manner. Additionally, these 100 hours shall be available for up to 3 IVF
processes.
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What is the leave entitlement in cases where a
couple needs to go through IVF treatment if only one person is employed?
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If only one prospective parent is employed, that
person shall be entitled to 60 hours if it is the receiving person or 40
hours if it is the other prospective parent.
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