Hot News! New law on employee rights and pay transparency now published

A new Legal Notice 112 of 2025 has been published today the 27/06/2025, which should come into effect this summer.

The main changes are:

1. That job applicants will have the right to receive from the prospective employer information about: (a) the initial pay, or its range, to be attributed to the position concerned; and (b) where applicable, the relevant pay provisions of the collective agreement in relation to the position. This information must be provided to the workers before the commencement of their employment.
2. That employees shall have the right to request from the employer at any time during their employment the individual pay level and the pay levels for categories of workers performing the same work as them. The employer shall provide such information upon written request by the worker within a reasonable period of time but in any event not exceeding two (2) months from the date on which the request is made.

This Legal Notice appears to bring Malta some steps closer to the transposition of the EU Pay Transparency Directive (‘Directive’). However, at first glance this Legal Notice does not go so far as to introduce the prospective right envisaged under the Directive, that is, for employees to know the pay levels of the category/ies of workers who are performing “work of equal value”, since it (seemingly) limits the right to compare only with employees performing the “same work”.

Under the Directive, and under existing Maltese laws, there is a stark difference between employees who perform the “same work”, and employees who do not perform the same work but perform “work of equal value”. It is typically understood that employees who perform the same work will fall within one category, whereas employees who do not perform the same work but perform work of equal value will be deemed to fall in a separate but “comparable” category; ‘Comparable’ because under Maltese law, employees who perform the same work and employees who perform work of equal value, have the right to be paid equal pay (subject to some parameters).

Therefore, this Legal Notice introduces the right of an employee to request information to be able to compare with “pay levels” of categories of workers carrying out the “same work”, but stops short of introducing the right to request information to compare the pay levels with that of employees who carry out “work of equal value” Also of note is that the Legal Notice speaks of comparing “pay levels”, whereas the Directive speaks of the right for employees to be informed of the “average pay” for such a category.

The Legal Notice also introduces a couple of new definitions, but does not, as yet, define the term “category” – a term which undoubtedly needs to be defined in anticipation of the transposition of the Directive. 

You can read more Insights about the Pay Transparency Directive and the concept of equal pay for work of equal value here.

Watch this space for more updates on this topic. The EU Pay Transparency Directive must be fully transposed by June 2026 but remember, if you are not sure whether your organisation satisfies the rules on ‘equal pay for work of equal value’, now’s the time to start your review before any skeletons get exposed!