Hours of Work

Hours of Work


faqs.png

​ ​​ ​​ ​
Hours of Work​​ ​​ ​
​ ​​ ​​ ​
Description
​ ​​ ​​ ​
Weekly hours of work performed and payment for training.​
​ ​​ ​​ ​

Questions

Answers

What are the normal weekly hours of work?

The normal hours of work for full-time employment vary according to the relevant sector of industry. These are established in Wage Regulation Orders that regulate such sectors according to their activity of work. The normal hours of work of a part-time employee should be less than those worked by a comparable full-time employee, calculated on a weekly basis or on an average over a period of employment of up to one year.

Is the employee entitled for any payment if sent for training when s/he is not on duty?

If the training is obligatory, the employer must treat that period as working time and pay it accordingly.

​ ​​ ​​ ​
​​ ​​ ​​ ​
Hours of Work - Part Time
​ ​​ ​​ ​
Description
​ ​​ ​​ ​
​A part-time employee is one whose normal hours of work, calculated on a weekly basis or on an average over a period of employment of up to one year, are less than the normal hours of work of a comparable whole-time employee and who is not a whole-time employee with reduced hours.​
​ ​​ ​​ ​

Questions

​Answers

Are all part-timers entitled to pro-rata entitlements? 

In any part-time employment, whether as a principal or secondary employment,  a part-time employee is entitled to all entitlements enjoyed by the comparable full-time employee, on a pro rata basis.

How is the pro-rata entitlement calculated?

The pro-rata is the proportion of the number of weekly hours worked by the part-time employee when compared to the number of the normal weekly hours worked by a full-time employee performing same work.

Example: (The vacation leave of a full timer working 40 hours per week is 200 hours in 2018. If the part-timer works 20 hours a week, the pro-rata vacation leave entitlement is 20/40x200 hours = 100 hours.)

​ ​​ ​​ ​
​ ​​ ​​ ​
Reduced Hours​
​ ​​ ​​ ​
Description​ ​​ ​​ ​
​ ​​ ​​ ​
Employee is employed on a full-time basis but has an agreement with the employer to work less hours for a specified period of time.
​ ​​ ​​ ​

Question

Answer

Who can work on the basis of reduced hours?

Full-time employment with reduced hours is employment in respect of which social security contributions are payable and when the employee agrees with his/her employer to work less hours than those worked by a comparable full-timer. In such cases, the wage and other entitlements shall be granted on a pro-rata basis.

​ ​​ ​​ ​
​ ​​ ​​ ​
Telework
​ ​​ ​​ ​
​​Description ​​
​Employees having an agreement with the employer to perform duties remotely on a regular basis.
​​ ​​ ​

Question

Answer

Can there be an arrangement for an employee to perform telework?

Where an employer makes an offer of telework, the employee is free to accept or refuse the offer. If an employee requests to perform telework, the employer may accept or refuse such request. Whereas telework is always dependent on the nature of work carried out by the employee, telework arrangements are always agreed by the mutual consent of the employer and the employee.

​ ​​ ​​ ​
​ ​​ ​​ ​
Rest Periods​ ​​ ​​ ​
​ ​​ ​​ ​
Description​​ ​​ ​
​ ​​ ​​ ​
The duration of rest periods.
​ ​​ ​​ ​

Questions

Answers

Is an employee entitled to rest breaks during the day?

Where the working day is longer than six hours, an employee is entitled to not less than fifteen minutes of rest, unless a longer period of rest is provided by any other regulation or agreement. Such rest break is not considered as working time.

How much rest time should be given from one working day to another?

Every worker is entitled to a minimum daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours.

Is an employee entitled to a weekly day of rest?

In addition to the 11 hour daily rest, every worker is entitled to an uninterrupted weekly rest period of:

a) 24 consecutive hours within a seven day period, or

b) One period of 48 consecutive hours within a 14 day period, or

c)  Two periods of 24 consecutive hours each within a 14 day period.

However, in certain circumstances specified by the law, there may be the possibility for a worker not to take the full rest period, provided that equivalent compensatory rest periods are given to the worker concerned at times immediately following the corresponding periods worked.

Is it possible to substitute the rest period with monetary compensation?

No, such a circumstance is prohibited by law.

 

​ ​​ ​​ ​
​ ​​ ​​ ​

​CONTACT INFORMATION:

 Contact Name

Department for Industrial and Employment Relations 
121, Melita​​ Street,
Valletta - Malta 
VLT 1121
View map​
 Tele​phone​
1575 for Employees
1576 for Employers
 Email