Malta Minimum Wage 2026: Weekly, Hourly and Annual Rates

The national minimum wage in Malta for 2026 is €229.44 a week for full-time employees aged 18 and over. Employees aged 17 are entitled to at least €222.66 a week, and those under 17 to €219.82. The rates took effect on 1 January 2026 through Legal Notice 289 of 2025.

Malta sets its minimum wage as a weekly figure, which surprises employers used to hourly or monthly rates. The weekly basis matches how social security is calculated, and it is the figure the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER) publishes and enforces. The 2027 rate is not yet known, as Budget 2027 is normally announced in October or November.

• 18 and over: €229.44 a week
• Age 17: €222.66 a week
• Under 17: €219.82 a week
• Standard full-time week: 40 hours

The current rates are published on the DIER minimum wage page, which is the reference to check before any pay review.

At the adult rate and a 40-hour week, the Maltese minimum wage works out at about €5.74 an hour. Dividing €229.44 by 40 gives €5.736, which rounds up to €5.74.

Over 52 weeks the basic minimum comes to €11,930.88 a year. Every employee also receives the statutory bonuses, which total €512.52 in 2026, so the minimum annual package reaches €12,443.40. Spread across twelve months, that is roughly €1,037 a month.

When you quote a minimum-wage role as a monthly or annual salary, show how you got there. A salary described as “€12,443.40 inclusive of statutory bonuses” is compliant. A salary of €12,000 that is also meant to cover the bonuses is not, because the basic element would fall below €229.44 a week.

Leave and public holidays sit on top of these figures. A full-time employee on the minimum wage is still entitled to 192 hours of paid annual leave, which becomes 216 hours in 2026 because three public holidays fall on a weekend. Sick leave, where no Wage Regulation Order applies, is at least two working weeks a year on full pay. None of this is deducted from the weekly minimum.

The statutory bonuses in Malta are paid in addition to the minimum weekly wage, and every employee also receives the cost of living adjustment (COLA). For 2026 COLA is €4.66 a week, or €0.12 an hour for part-time staff.

The bonuses have fixed amounts and dates. A statutory bonus of €135.10 is paid at the end of June and again between 15 and 23 December. A weekly allowance of €121.16 is paid at the end of March and the end of September. New starters and leavers receive them pro rata, at €0.74 per calendar day for the bonus and €4.66 per week worked for the allowance.

Both the bonuses and COLA are taxable and attract social security. For a full explanation of how they are calculated and paid, see our guide to Malta statutory bonuses and COLA.

The national minimum wage is the floor for every employee in Malta, but many roles have a higher legal minimum set by a Wage Regulation Order or a collective agreement. Wage Regulation Orders, made under the Employment and Industrial Relations Act (Cap. 452), cover specific sectors and can set higher pay by grade, different working hours, overtime rates and extra leave.

Before setting pay for a role, check whether an order covers the sector and which grade fits the job. Where a collective agreement applies to the workplace, its rates apply too. The contract should name any agreement that governs the employment, since the written statement rules require it.

In practice, most professional roles pay far above the floor. The average basic salary in Malta was €2,270 a month in the first quarter of 2026, and financial services averaged €3,105. The minimum wage matters most for entry-level, hospitality, retail and support roles, and for part-time contracts where hourly maths is easy to get wrong.

Job adverts deserve a check too. The EU Pay Transparency Directive had to be transposed by 7 June 2026 and is expected to require salary ranges in adverts. The final Maltese rules were still being confirmed at the time of writing, so check the current position with DIER before you publish a vacancy, and make sure the bottom of any range meets the applicable minimum.

Part-time employees in Malta must receive at least the same hourly rate as full-timers, pro rata to their hours. An adult on 20 hours a week is entitled to at least half the weekly minimum, based on the €5.74 hourly figure, plus pro-rata statutory bonuses and COLA.

Young workers have their own lower weekly rates at 17 and under 17. Once an employee turns 18, the adult rate applies, so payroll should track birthdays for anyone hired before that age. Students on genuine student contracts pay social security under their own categories, which have small caps.

Overtime is paid according to the relevant Wage Regulation Order, and most set time and a half. There is no single statute setting overtime pay for every employee. Working hours are still limited to an average of 48 a week over the reference period, unless the employee has opted out in writing.

Probation does not change the rate. An employee on probation is paid at least the minimum wage from the first day, and the statutory bonuses and COLA accrue from the start date on a pro-rata basis. The same applies to fixed-term contracts, where Maltese law requires equal treatment with indefinite staff.

A supplement of €3 from the 2023 national agreement on the minimum wage still applies in some cases. Check whether it affects your staff before relying on the headline weekly rate alone.

An adult employee on the Maltese minimum wage pays social security under Category B, which is a fixed €22.94 a week, with the employer paying the same amount. The employee can opt to pay 10% of the wage instead. The employer also pays the Maternity Leave Trust Fund levy, which is €0.69 a week for Category B.

Income tax is light. Assuming the single computation, the full year’s minimum pay of €12,443.40 including bonuses, and no other income, only the part above the €12,000 tax-free band is taxed, at 15%. That comes to about €66 for the year. Under the married computation, where the 0% band runs to €15,000, no tax is due at all.

For the employer, the cost of a minimum-wage hire is therefore the salary package plus €22.94 a week in social security and the small Trust Fund levy. Our article on the cost of hiring in Malta shows how the picture changes for higher salaries.

Most minimum wage problems in Malta come from how pay is structured rather than from paying too little on purpose. The same few errors come up again and again.

• Counting statutory bonuses towards the weekly minimum instead of paying them on top
• Using the national rate when a Wage Regulation Order sets a higher one
• Paying a part-timer a weekly sum that falls below €5.74 an hour once real hours are counted
• Keeping a 17-year-old on the youth rate after their 18th birthday
• Treating a worker as self-employed when the working pattern points to employment

The last point carries the widest risk. A worker who meets at least five of the eight criteria in the Employment Status National Standard Order is an employee, with full rights to the minimum wage, bonuses and leave. Our guide to employee misclassification in Malta explains the test.

DIER inspects employment conditions, and a 2025 amendment raised first-offence fines to between €2,000 and €5,000. Employer of Record Malta checks every salary against the national rate and any applicable order before the contract is issued.