MALTA Law and Practice Contributed by: Paul Gonzi, Rebecca Diacono and Mattea Pullicino, Fenech & Fenech Advocates
5. New Work 5.1 Mobile Work
5.2 Sabbaticals Maltese law does not provide for sabbatical leave as a statutory leave entitlement granted to employees. There is nothing that prohibits employers from grant - ing sabbatical leave, whether paid or unpaid. Although not highly common in Malta within the private sector, employers would typically impose restrictions during sabbatical leave, such as a prohibition from undertak - ing paid work. 5.3 Other New Manifestations Flexible working is one of the most popular new mani - festations in the field of employment, whether in the form of variable working hours or remote working. Spurred on by the COVID-19 pandemic, employ - ees have come to expect a level of flexibility from employers. Multi-functional workspaces are also on the rise, in that it is expected that within the next few years, companies will minimise office space and make the remaining places of work more flexible and multi-functional, such as by introducing hot-desking, where employees do not have an assigned seat but rather claim a different open workspace whenever at the office. Also accelerated by the consequences of the pandemic, employers are increasingly prioritis - ing employee wellness, which in turn is expected to decrease high turnover of staff. Furthermore, in an effort to retain talent in a competitive job market, ongoing learning and development opportunities are anticipated to grow. Professionals need to stay up to date with the latest advancements in their fields to progress in their careers.
Maltese law regulates the concept of telework by means of the Telework National Standard Order (SL 452.104). SL 452.104 defines telework as “a form of organising and/or performing work, using information technology, in the context of an employment con - tract or relationship, where work, which could also be performed at the employer’s premises, is carried out away from those premises on a regular basis”. The National Standard Order delineates conditions that must be adhered to in the case of teleworking, including the need for a telework agreement to be in place containing certain requirements, as well as the need for the employer to take appropriate measures particularly with regard to software, to ensure the pro - tection of data used and processed by the employee carrying out telework. The law obliges the employer to inform the employee carrying out telework of any restrictions on the use of IT equipment, internet or other IT tools and any sanction in case of non-com - pliance. SL 452.104 also stipulates that where monitoring is to be carried out by the employer, both the employee and the employer must agree to such monitoring in the telework agreement, and any such monitoring sys - tem must be in proportion to the objective and intro - duced in accordance with Council Directive 90/270 on the minimum safety and health requirements for work with display screen equipment. As regards health and safety obligations of the employ - er when employees are teleworking, telework does not absolve employers of their obligations in terms of law in that employers are still bound by their health and safety obligations towards employees and, therefore, the duty of care must always be exercised irrespective of whether the employee is working remotely or not. As regards remote working from overseas, employ - ers must also keep in mind tax and social security considerations that may arise and their obligations in this regard.
6. Collective Relations 6.1 Unions
The right of assembly and association is a fundamen - tal human right enshrined in the Maltese Constitution. The formation of trade unions and the process by which a union is recognised by an employer is regu - lated by law. However, it is generally only employ - ers with a large number of employees and parastatal companies that are unionised or have employee rep - resentation.
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