Vacation leave in Malta: entitlement, carry-over, pay
Every worker in Malta is entitled to paid annual leave of at least four weeks and thirty-two hours, calculated on a forty-hour working week and an eight-hour day, which comes to 192 hours a year (regulation 8(1) of the Organisation of Working Time Regulations, S.L. 452.87). On top of that, whole-time employees are entitled to the national and public holidays with full pay, and when one of them falls on a Saturday, Sunday or weekly day of rest, they get an extra day of vacation leave in the same calendar year.
At least four weeks of the entitlement cannot be replaced by a payment in lieu while the employment continues; any agreement to the contrary is null and void. When the employment ends, unused leave must be paid with the final wages by the next pay day (article 22(2) of the Employment and Industrial Relations Act, Cap. 452).
This guide explains how to calculate your entitlement if you work full-time, part-time or irregular hours, when leave can be carried over, how to claim payment for leave not taken, and where to complain if the employer refuses. It also covers the limits on working time that often come up in the same dispute: the 48-hour average week, daily and weekly rest.
Key facts
Deadline
Up to 50% of the year's leave may be carried over once, by agreement, to the next calendar year (regulation 8(3) of S.L. 452.87); unused leave is paid on termination by the next pay day (article 22(2) of Cap. 452); a complaint to the Industrial Tribunal must be filed within four months of the breach (article 75(3) of Cap. 452).
What to do
Calculate your basic entitlement. For a whole-time employee working forty hours a week, the minimum is four weeks and thirty-two hours, that is 192 hours (regulation 8(1) of S.L. 452.87). If your normal average weekly hours over a seventeen-week reference period are below or above forty, the entitlement in hours is adjusted proportionately, counting normal hours only and not overtime.
If you joined or left during the year, you are entitled to leave in proportion to the time you were employed (regulation 8(4)). Whole-time employees with reduced hours and part-time employees receive a pro rata share of annual leave and public holidays (articles 24 and 25 of Cap. 452). Your contract or a collective agreement may give more, never less.
Add the public holidays that fall on rest days. Malta has five national holidays and nine other public holidays listed in the National Holidays and other Public Holidays Act (Cap. 252). Whole-time employees are entitled to all of them with full pay (regulation 8(5) of S.L. 452.87).
Since 1 January 2021, when a national or public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, it entitles you to an additional day of vacation leave in that calendar year (article 6(c) of Cap. 252; proviso to regulation 8(1)). Article 17 of Cap. 452 gives the same extra day where a public holiday falls on your weekly day of rest. For workers on irregular schedules, the day credited is calculated from the normal hours in a seventeen-week period divided by the working days in it (regulation 8(6)(b)).
Check how leave is booked. Leave is taken in whole working days, with the corresponding hours deducted from your entitlement, unless a collective agreement or mutual consent provides otherwise; the exception is the part of the entitlement used as urgent leave, which may be taken in hours (regulation 8(2)). If you have fewer hours left than a full working day, the remainder is granted on one occasion as part of a whole day.
Your written information statement must state the amount of paid leave you are entitled to (S.L. 452.126). Ask your employer for a statement of the leave balance in hours. The employer must keep adequate working-time records for at least two years (regulation 20(3)); if it fails to do so, the burden of proving compliance in court is on the employer (regulation 20(4)).
Know the limits on carrying leave over. By mutual agreement, up to 50% of the year's leave entitlement may be carried over once to the next calendar year. Leave carried forward must be used first and cannot be carried forward again (regulation 8(3)).
In practice, if leave is regularly refused because of workload, put your requests in writing with dates. The regulations make the four-week core of the entitlement non-replaceable by payment while the employment lasts (regulation 8(1)), and an employer that fails to allow paid holidays commits an offence under article 45(2)(e) of Cap. 452. A record of refused requests is your best evidence that unused leave was not your choice.
Refuse to sell the core four weeks. While the employment continues, at least four weeks of paid annual leave may not be replaced by an allowance in lieu, and any agreement to the contrary is null and void (regulation 8(1)). The additional thirty-two hours and any contractual leave above the minimum may, in principle, be paid out if both sides agree, but the four weeks must be taken as time off.
The rule protects your health and rest, so a contract clause, a signed form or a payslip line purporting to buy out the four weeks does not bind you. If your employer insists, you can still claim the leave itself and report the breach to the Director (DIER).
Claim payment for unused leave on termination. When your employment ends, all outstanding wages and compensation for leave not taken must be paid by the next normal pay day, as if the contract had not been terminated (article 22(2) of Cap. 452). The amount is your normal pay for the unused hours, including pro rata leave for the part of the year worked.
Compensation for leave is also a privileged claim if the employer becomes insolvent, ranking ahead of other creditors within the cap in article 20. Check your final payslip line by line: leave balance, pro rata statutory bonus, notice pay and the last salary.
Check working time and rest alongside leave. Your average working time, including overtime, may not exceed forty-eight hours for each seven-day period, averaged over seventeen weeks, or fifty-two weeks in manufacturing and tourism (regulation 7 of S.L. 452.87). Paid annual leave and sick leave are excluded from the average. You may agree in writing to work longer, but you can end that agreement with at least seven days' written notice and you may not be penalised for refusing (regulation 20).
You are also entitled to eleven consecutive hours of daily rest (regulation 4), a break where the day is longer than six hours (regulation 5) and an uninterrupted weekly rest of twenty-four hours, or two of twenty-four or one of forty-eight hours in each fourteen days (regulation 6).
Complain if leave is refused or unpaid. You can report the employer to the Director (DIER); inspectors may enter the workplace and demand records (article 43 of Cap. 452). An employer who breaches the Working Time Regulations commits an offence with a minimum fine of €465.87 (regulation 22), and where the court convicts for failing to allow paid holidays, it must also order the employer to pay you a sum equal to the pay for that leave (article 45(2)).
Alternatively, under regulation 21(2) you may present a complaint to the Industrial Tribunal that the employer refused you a right under the regulations or failed to pay amounts due under regulation 8. File the written declaration at the Tribunal's registry within four months (article 75(3) of Cap. 452).
Protect yourself against retaliation. A dismissal whose main reason is that you refused to comply with a requirement imposed in breach of the regulations, or refused to give up a right they confer, is an unfair dismissal (regulation 21(1) of S.L. 452.87). The same applies to pressure to sign away your right to the 48-hour limit: no worker may suffer any detriment for refusing (regulation 20(1)(b)).
If you are dismissed after insisting on your leave, include both the leave claim and the unfair dismissal claim in one referral to the Industrial Tribunal, filed within four months of the dismissal, and ask expressly for reinstatement if you want your job back.
What to watch out for
- Accepting cash instead of the core four weeks. Regulation 8(1) makes such an agreement null and void while the employment continues.
- Assuming unused leave rolls over automatically. Only up to 50% may be carried over, once, and only by agreement (regulation 8(3)).
- Forgetting public holidays that fall on a weekend. Since 2021 each one adds a day of vacation leave for that year (article 6(c) of Cap. 252).
- Not checking the final payslip. Unused leave must be paid by the next pay day after termination (article 22(2) of Cap. 452).
- Part-timers accepting no leave at all. Part-time and reduced-hours employees are entitled to a pro rata share (articles 24 and 25 of Cap. 452).
- Signing an opt-out from the 48-hour limit as a condition of the job. Refusal must not cause any detriment, and the agreement can be ended on seven days' notice (regulation 20).
- Waiting more than four months to go to the Industrial Tribunal after the breach or dismissal.
Legal basis
Frequently asked questions
How many days of vacation leave do you get in Malta?
At least four weeks and thirty-two hours a year on a forty-hour week, which is 192 hours or 24 eight-hour days (regulation 8(1) of S.L. 452.87). Add an extra day for each national or public holiday that falls on a Saturday or Sunday that year (article 6(c) of Cap. 252). Contracts may give more.
How many public holidays are there in Malta?
Fourteen: five national holidays (31 March, 7 June, 8 September, 21 September and 13 December) and nine public holidays listed in the Schedule to Cap. 252, including New Year's Day, Good Friday, 1 May, 15 August and Christmas Day. Whole-time employees are entitled to them with full pay (regulation 8(5) of S.L. 452.87).
Can I carry over unused leave to next year in Malta?
Up to 50% of the year's entitlement, once, and only by mutual agreement with the employer (regulation 8(3) of S.L. 452.87). The carried-over leave must be used first in the next year and cannot be carried forward again. Leave beyond that is lost unless the contract is more generous.
Can my employer pay me instead of giving me leave?
Not for the core four weeks. Regulation 8(1) of S.L. 452.87 forbids replacing a minimum of four weeks of annual leave with an allowance in lieu, except when the employment ends, and declares any contrary agreement null and void. The remaining hours and contractual extra leave may be paid out by agreement.
Do I get paid for unused leave when I resign?
Yes. Whether you resign or are dismissed, compensation for leave not taken must be paid with the outstanding wages by the next normal pay day (article 22(2) of Cap. 452). The amount covers the pro rata leave earned in the current year, less leave already taken.
Do part-time workers get vacation leave in Malta?
Yes, pro rata. Part-time employees may not be treated less favourably than comparable whole-time employees (article 25 of Cap. 452), and whole-time employees with reduced hours receive a pro rata share of annual leave and public holidays (article 24). Where weekly hours differ from forty, the entitlement in hours is adjusted (regulation 8(1) of S.L. 452.87).
Can I take vacation leave in hours rather than days?
Generally no. Leave is taken in whole working days unless a collective agreement or mutual consent says otherwise; the hours used as urgent leave are the exception (regulation 8(2) of S.L. 452.87). A remainder smaller than a full day is granted once, as part of a whole day.
What is the maximum working week in Malta?
An average of forty-eight hours, including overtime, for each seven-day period, normally calculated over seventeen weeks and over fifty-two weeks in manufacturing and tourism (regulation 7 of S.L. 452.87). You may opt out in writing, can withdraw on seven days' notice, and must not be penalised for refusing (regulation 20).
Where do I complain if my employer refuses my leave?
To the Director responsible for industrial and employment relations (DIER), whose inspectors can investigate (article 43 of Cap. 452), or to the Industrial Tribunal under regulation 21(2) of S.L. 452.87 within four months (article 75(3) of Cap. 452). Breaches carry a minimum fine of €465.87 (regulation 22).
Is leave entitlement reduced if I start mid-year?
Yes, proportionately. If you are employed for less than twelve months in a calendar year, you are entitled to annual leave in proportion to the period of employment (regulation 8(4) of S.L. 452.87). Public holidays falling on weekends during your employment still add their extra days.
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