Hiring in Malta, from abroad, or as a foreign company. Status labels are explained on the Starting in Malta home page.
7.1 I'm a Maltese company hiring someone: what do I register with Jobsplus?
Employers register employees with an engagement form and report the end of employment with a termination form on the Jobsplus employer online service.
A self-employed employer must first be registered as self-employed and hold a VAT number and PE number. A sole owner of a company engages themselves as an employee with a Managing Director or Director designation.
Official source: Jobsplus: Register your employees (Jobsplus)
Status: ✅ Verified · checked 2026-10-21 · For: Employer
7.2 What is a PE number and how does an employer get one?
A PE (Permission to Employ) number is required by any taxpayer who employs people in Malta.
Separate eForms exist for:
- sole traders
- companies
- tax practitioners
- a combined VAT and PE registration
Official source: MTCA: Register for PE (MTCA)
Status: ✅ Verified · checked 2026-10-21 · For: Employer
7.3 What must I give a new employee in writing?
If employment lasts more than one month and involves more than eight hours a week, the employer must give a written statement of working conditions within 8 working days of starting.
This applies even if the contract was not in writing. DIER publishes contract templates.
Official source: DIER: Starting a new job (DIER)
Status: ✅ Verified · checked 2026-10-21 · For: Employer
7.4 How do probation and fixed-term contracts work?
Probation is six months unless a shorter period is agreed, and one year for technical, executive, administrative or managerial posts paid at least double the minimum wage. During probation either side can end employment with one week's notice once past one month.
Fixed-term contracts can be renewed successively for up to four years, after which the employee is treated as indefinite. If an employee stays on after expiry with no new contract within 12 days, they are treated as indefinite.
Official source: DIER: Starting a new job (DIER)
Status: ✅ Verified · checked 2026-10-21 · For: Employer, employee
7.5 What payroll tax do I deduct, and when do I report?
Employers deduct tax under the Final Settlement System (S.L. 372.14) and social security contributions from wages and remit them to the Commissioner each month.
Year-end, an FS3 is created per employee and reconciled on an FS7, due by 15 February of the following year. Employers with 10 or more employees submit year-end documents online.
Official source: MTCA: Registration as Employer, FSS (MTCA)
Status: ✅ Verified · checked 2026-10-21 · For: Employer
7.6 How much social security do employer and employee pay (Class 1)?
Employer and employee each pay Class 1 contributions at set weekly amounts or 10% of basic wage depending on category and wage band, and the employer alone pays the Maternity Leave Fund. The page lists category tables by age and wage.
Official source: Department of Social Security: Class 1 contributions (2025) (Social Security)
Status: ✅ Verified · checked 2026-10-21 · For: Employer, employee
7.7 I'm a foreign company hiring someone who lives in Malta. What do I need?
Maltese or EU nationals living in Malta and hired by a foreign EU/EEA company require engagement forms, and the employer must first obtain a PE number from MTCA.
Maltese or EU nationals permanently working abroad for a foreign employer, and TCNs working abroad, do not register with Jobsplus.
Official source: Jobsplus: Do I need to submit an engagement form? (Jobsplus)
Status: ✅ Verified · checked 2026-10-21 · For: Foreign employer
7.8 I'm a foreign company sending my own employee to work in Malta (posted worker)
The foreign employer notifies DIER before the posting starts, or at the latest on the first day, using the online form, and keeps records such as contracts, payslips and time-sheets.
Posted workers get the same minimum conditions as comparable local employees:
- rest periods
- paid holidays
- pay and overtime
- health and safety
After 12 months, or 18 months with a motivated notification, most Maltese employment terms apply except dismissal and supplementary occupational pensions.
Official source: Posted Workers Malta: Posting of workers (DIER)
Status: ✅ Verified · checked 2026-10-21 · For: Foreign employer
7.9 Which fast-track route applies to a skilled non-EU hire, and at what salary?
Jobsplus describes the Key Employee Initiative at €35,000 and a Specialised Employee Initiative at €25,000 with MQF level 6 or three years' experience.
Identità's KEI page states €45,000.
Official source: Jobsplus: Employing non-EU nationals; Identità KEI (Jobsplus / Identità)
Status: 🟡 Needs checking · For: Employer
7.10 Does my non-EU hire need a Single Permit, an Employment Licence, or neither?
Most TCNs need a Single Permit from Identità.
Jobsplus Employment Licences cover:
- asylum applicants
- seasonal or temporary workers under six months
- service providers
- students
- secondary part-time employment
- some residence-card holders
Posted workers need no licence. A TCN posted by a non-EU/EEA company needs a licence for stays under two years and a Single Permit for longer; one posted by an EU/EEA company needs no Maltese licence unless already holding one.
Official source: Jobsplus: Employing non-EU nationals (Jobsplus)
Status: ✅ Verified · checked 2026-10-21 · For: Employer
7.11 What must I do before hiring from abroad (labour market test, timing, limits)?
Employers must search for candidates in Malta and the EU/EEA and advertise the vacancy. For Single Permit applications the vacancy must be advertised for at least three weeks within the two months before applying, with exemptions.
Employers must meet conditions including:
- the 2% disability quota
- timely engagement and termination forms
- termination rates
- a Workforce Application Limit by company size: micro 200%, small 100%, medium 50%, large 25%
It is illegal to employ the TCN before the permit is issued, and processing can take up to four months.
Official source: Jobsplus: Labour Migration Policy (employer knowledge base) (Jobsplus)
Status: ✅ Verified · checked 2026-10-21 · For: Employer
7.12 Can I hire an EU/EEA/Swiss national from abroad?
EU nationals can stay up to three months without a registration certificate and do not need a Single Permit. Engagement-form and residence-registration steps for EU hires were not confirmed on the pages read.
Official source: Identità: Working & Residing in Malta (Identità)
Status: 🟡 Needs checking · For: Employer
7.13 Do interns and trainees need to be registered as employees?
Interns, trainees and work-placement students where no employment relationship exists do not need an engagement form; a tripartite training agreement is required instead.
Official source: Jobsplus: Do I need to submit an engagement form? (Jobsplus)
Status: ✅ Verified · checked 2026-10-21 · For: Employer, startup
7.14 What minimum wage and employment conditions apply?
No confirmed answer yet.
Official source: DIER: Employment conditions (DIER)
Status: 🟡 Needs checking · For: Employer
7.15 How do dismissal and termination work?
No confirmed answer yet.
Official source: Employment and Industrial Relations Act (Cap. 452) (Legislation Malta)
Status: 🟡 Needs checking · For: Employer, employee
7.16 What termination-rate rules apply to employers of non-EU staff?
The Jobsplus page says employers must comply with termination rates set in the Labour Migration Policy but gives no figures.
Official source: Jobsplus: Labour Migration Policy (Jobsplus)
Status: 🟡 Needs checking · For: Employer
7.17 Can I employ staff in Malta without setting up a company (employer of record)?
No confirmed answer yet.
Source: none identified yet.
Status: ⚪ No official source found · For: Foreign employer