1. What is the
reason for the establishment of the Maternity Leave Trust Fund, and how will it
be amended to reflect the Work- Life Balance entitlements?
In July 2015, the Maternity Leave Trust Fund
was established, and employers who had pregnant female employees and paid them
fourteen weeks of maternity leave could get a reimbursement for the wage costs
incurred during this period.
This helped to eliminate possible discrimination against
women since as employers pay a minimum
contribution for every employee irrespective of the sex, to remove any
disincentive leading employers to employ a man instead of a woman. The criteria
of choosing an employee is to be based on the individual skills of the
candidate.
The Trust Fund is also used to compensate for adoption leave
in terms of the Adoption Leave National Standard Order.
As from 2nd August 2022, this Trust Fund was adjusted so as
to include the Work-Life Balance
entitlements set up by Legal Notice 201 of 2022. Thus the Maternity Trust Fund
was adjusted to Work Life Balance Fund to include reimbursement of wages during the paternity
and parental paid leave in cases of birth and adoption and in the case of
parental the benefits are extended to fostering too. For more information on these benefits visit here.
2. Did this
reform incur any extra payment in the contribution by the employee?
This is not the case. No employee pays any contribution for
this system.
3. How does the
employer effect the payment for this system?
The Tenth Schedule of the Social
Security Act determines the contribution due by each employer for each of
his/her employees. This contribution goes into a special fund, which eventually
is used to reimburse employers paying employees on maternity leave, and with
recent amendments, fostering leave, parental/adoption leave and
paternity/paternity-adoption leave. In order to ensure that this contribution
is aimed for this objective, a new line features in the monthly return form
that employers send to the Inland Revenue Department. This indicates the amount
that the employer has paid for this special fund.
4. Who controls
payments of this fund?
In order to have
transparency, the Board of the fund is made up of three members
representing the employers and one member representing the Unions.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Finance and the
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry responsible for Industrial Relations are
ex-officio members. The Board ensures that employers pay their respective
contribution and that from time to time revise the contribution rate as
necessary.
5. What is the
rate of contribution?
When this measure was introduced, the Ministry of Finance
had made an in depth analysis of the pregnancy rate and the number of women
applying for maternity leave; the fertility rate; the wages and salaries that
were being paid to women employees benefitting from this leave and the total amount
of employees that include both men and women. This exercise was carried out
among private sector employees only. From this analysis, it was established
that the contribution rate had to be that of zero point three per cent (0.3%)
of the basic salary. This contribution rate may be revised.
6. What if an
employer does not pay his/her respective contribution?
While employers are bound
to pay those who apply for maternity leave, adoption leave, fostering leave,
parental/adoption leave and paternity/paternity-adoption leave, no
reimbursement is paid if it transpires that pay contributions were in actual
fact not paid. Moreover, employers are subject to penalties and fines under the
provision of the Social Security Act.
7. Does this
mean that the private sector is paying for those public sector individuals
applying for these types of leave?
This fund is solely used to sustain the
system for private sector employees ONLY. The Public Service and Public Sector
Entities; Authorities, Agencies and Public Corporations are exempt from this
scheme’s contribution. However, Public Service and Public Sector employees are
nonetheless entitled to these types of leave. Furthermore, Government has
continued to pay for those weeks leave that a woman is entitled over and above
the fourteen weeks mentioned above. This payment is made to all employees
irrespective whether women are public or private sector employees.
8. Is this
contribution paid for part-time employees whose social security contribution is
not incurred in view of their being in another full-time employment?
Yes. The Employment and Industrial Relations Act and the
Part Time Employees Regulations highlight the right that part-time employees
have these types of leave paid on a pro-rata basis. This means that employers
can apply for a reimbursement for this payment once the corresponding
contribution is paid.
9. Who may
provide further information how to lodge a claim?
Kindly forward any queries in relation to payments under the work life balance fund to this email address: worklifebalancefund@gov.mt
In case of other general queries in relation to the work life balance legal notice and its applicability kindly use the following contact info:
Freephones 1575 (Employees) / 1576 (Employers)
Email address: info.dier@gov.mt
Guidelines to Employers for filling in Trust Claim Online
Forms:
• MaternityLeave Trust Fund Claim Form
• Parental/AdoptionLeave Trust Claim Form
• Paternity/ Paternity-Adoption Leave Trust Claim
• FosteringLeave Trust Claim