Legal Update: Extended Urgent Family Leave
by Mattea Pullicino
19/02/2025
On February 4th, 2025, Legal Notice 28 of 2025 was published, bringing some changes to the urgent family leave entitlements for employees in Malta. Starting from April 4th, 2025, employees will now be entitled to 32 hours of urgent family leave per year.
This leave can be used on grounds of force majeure for urgent family reasons like sickness or accidents that require the employee’s immediate presence, including accidents, sudden illness, births, and deaths in the immediate family.
Previously, employees were entitled to 15 hours of urgent family leave, which was deducted from their annual vacation leave. With the new regulations, the 32 hours will be split equally between annual vacation leave and sick leave, with the first 16 hours being deducted from annual leave, and the remainder from the sick leave entitlement.
This change aims to improve work-life balance in Malta by helping working parents better manage their parental and professional responsibilities.
Employers may need to adjust their leave policies and internal procedures to reflect these statutory changes, provided they are not already offering more beneficial entitlements.
No advance notification is required to be given by the employee except in those cases where it is possible for the employee to give at least 24 hours notice.
The employer can establish the maximum number of hours of time off from work in each case. This must not be less than one hour per case.
The employer has the right to demand evidence to verify and confirm the request
Part-time employees are entitled on a pro-rata basis.
