Legislation transposing the EU Pay Transparency Directive (2023/970) was published as Legal Notice 173 of 2026 in the Government Gazette on June 5, 2026, and took effect June 7, 2026, with certain provisions taking effect at a later date. The notice is in addition to previous transposing legislation published in 2025. Although the 2026 legislation closely follows the directive's provisions, it introduces some deviations from, and additions to, the directive, the most notably as it pertains to employees' right to information.
Malta's equal pay act: Governance framework
| Provision and timing | Malta | Alignment with the directive |
|---|---|---|
| Category of worker | Defined as employees performing the same work or work of equal value, grouped by the employer according to objective, gender-neutral criteria, including complexity, responsibility, effort and working conditions. The 2026 regulations expand the comparator category from same work only (per the 2025 regulations) to same work or work of equal value, in line with the directive. | Aligned with the directive |
| Transparency prior to employment Compliance from: June 7, 2026 |
Employers must provide job applicants — before the conclusion of the recruitment process — with information on the initial base pay or pay range for the position, broader pay and benefit elements, and any applicable collective agreement provisions. There is no express provision to include pay information directly in job postings. The legal notice defines "pay" as encompassing base pay as well as any other salary component (in cash or in-kind), including any variable elements. Employers are prohibited from asking applicants about their pay history. Job vacancy notices and job titles must be gender-neutral. | Aligned with the directive |
| Transparency on pay criteria Compliance from: June 7, 2026 |
Employers will be required to make information available to workers on criteria used to determine pay and benefit levels and pay progression (which must be objective and gender-neutral). Employers with fewer than 50 workers are exempt from the disclosure requirement, but employers with 25–49 workers must still document their structures and related criteria. | Exceeds the directive (documentation requirement for companies with 25-49 employees) |
| Employee right to information Compliance from: June 7, 2026 |
Workers may request their individual pay level and average pay levels by gender for the same category of worker. The employer must respond within eight days; the employee representative may submit a follow-up within 12 days of that deadline. If employers do not provide full and accurate information within 45 days, they may be subject to criminal proceedings. Employers must inform workers annually of this right and retain relevant pay data for five years. Note: Employees who make requests in 2026 will be provided with 2026 pay data; covered pay periods for subsequent years are expected to be clarified in future guidance. |
Exceeds the directive (initial 8-day period to answer request; criminal proceedings if do not provide in 45 days; five-year data retention requirement) |
| Gender pay gap reporting First compliance date for data submission (employers with 150 or more employees): June 7, 2027 Second compliance date for data submission (employers with 100–149 employees): June 7, 2031 |
Organizations with 150 or more employees will be required to report periodically on gender pay gaps by entity and by category of worker. Entities with 250 or more employees report annually with first reporting by June 7, 2027; those with 150 to 249 employees report every three years with the same first reporting deadline. Reporting is by June 7, 2031, for companies with 100 to 149 employees (due every three years). Reporting in 2027 will be based on the 2026 calendar year and must include the average, median and quartile gender pay gaps overall as well as the pay gap per employee category for basic, complementary and total pay. |
Aligned with the directive |
| Pay gap assessments | Where a gap of 5% or more is identified between average pay levels for a category of worker and it cannot be justified on objective, gender-neutral grounds or corrected within six months, employers must conduct joint pay assessments in cooperation with employee representatives and develop an action plan to address the gaps. The completed assessment must be communicated to the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations within 10 working days. | Aligned with the directive |
| Other matters (including penalties) | Employers may be subject to fines for violations, particularly where violations relate to the equal pay principle. Criminal liability arises separately under the right-to-information provisions. | Exceeds the directive (criminal liability for right-to-information violations) |
Employers should ensure they meet the requirements introduced by the new pay transparency legislation (and take note where it differs from the 2025 legislation), including developing any databases to support compliance when pay gap reporting comes into effect. Malta had an unadjusted gender pay gap of 4.9% in 2024, well below the EU average of 11.1% (Eurostat data).
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