Maternity / Adoption Leave Trust Claim

Overview

The Maternity Leave Contribution that came into effect as of 4^th July 2015 through Legal Notice 257 of 2015 (Trusts and Trustees Act Cap. 331.), is to be paid by Employers for all their employees in the private sector.

This scheme is also applicable to a person who adopts a child.

The Public Service and Public Sector Entities; Authorities, Agencies and Public Corporations are exempt from this scheme.

The rate of the Maternity Leave Contribution is 0.3% of the basic weekly wage as published in Legal Notice 258 of 2015 (Trusts and Trustees Act Cap. 331.), which is an addition to the 10th Schedule of the Social Security Act (Cap. 318.). This contribution is paid entirely by the employer and should not be deducted from the employees’ wages.

What you’ll get

Under this scheme, employers will pay the maternity/adoption leave to their employees for the first fourteen (14) weeks and then apply for a Refund from the Department of Social Security when the employee returns to work. Maternity Leave is to start at the earliest from eight (8) weeks prior to expectancy date or immediately after birth of child as the latest.

Eligibility

General eligibility criteria:

The Maternity Leave Contribution is to be paid for all employees for whom the Class 1 Social Security Contributions are paid and for all employees (including Part-Timers) who are not eligible to pay Social Security Contributions but who are eligible for Maternity Leave according to the Employment and Industrial Relations Act (Cap. 452.).

The following employees are exempt from having the Maternity Leave Contribution paid in their respect by their employer:

Employees over sixty-five (65) years of age who are exempt from paying Social Security Contributions, but are still considered to be in an employment relationship.
Directors who are liable to pay Class 2 Social Security Contributions.
Employees on unpaid leave for whom no Social Security Contributions are being paid.
Public Sector employees.
Casual employees for whom no Social Security Contributions are being paid.
Expatriate employees for whom no Social Security Contributions are being paid in Malta.
All self-occupied persons who are not entitled to Maternity Leave. Self-occupied persons are not employees and therefore are automatically exempt from Matenity Leave Trust Contributions on their own behalf. That is, self-occupied persons are not entitled to Claim Maternity leave costs from the Maternity Leave Trust Fund.

The following employees are not exempt from having the Maternity Leave Contribution paid in their respect by their employer:

Part-Time employees who are not due to pay Social Security Contributions on such employment even though they are already paying from another full-time and/or part-time employment. Employers employing part-timers should contribute to the Maternity Leave Trust Fund on behalf of their part-time employees as well, even though they do not pay Social Security Contributions on the part-time job.
Persons with Disability who are registered as disabled with the Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD) and who are in employment.
Persons (mostly interns) engaged on definite six (6) monthly contracts.

Since Self-Occupied persons do not contribute to the Maternity Leave Trust Fund, they are not entitled to the Maternity Leave Trust Fund Claim. Therefore, these schemes apply only to Employed Persons, and refunds are made through the Trust Fund to employers, according to the applicable rates established for each scheme.

Other Scenarios

The Maternity Leave Contribution should still be paid according to the basic weekly wage for employees on half-pay.
It should also be paid for part-timers working on irregular hours, and this is to be calculated according to the basic weekly wage.

Other Matters

Obligation for employee to stay in same employment for six (6) months:

Presently, the Employment and Industrial Relations Act (Cap. 452.) contains a provision (Article 36 (20) that requires employees to return to work for a six (6) month period after benefitting from maternity leave, failing which the employer will be due to a reimbursement from the employee. This provision remains valid and the employee is obliged to adhere to such regulation.

Church Schools

Teachers working in Church Schools are not considered as public officers and therefore Maternity Leave Contribution should be paid in their respect.

Documentation required

General documentation:

Three (3) Social Security Contribution Receipts issued by the Commissioner for Revenue (CfR), which must cover the nine (9) months of Pregnancy period and not the Maternity Leave period. Social Security contributions receipts requested are to be for one of the months for each trimester of the pregnancy, showing the PE number of the company.The year is divided into four trimesters – January to March, April to June, July to September and October to December.As an example – if a baby is born in August 2022, one receipt from January to March 2022, one receipt from April to June 2022 and one receipt of either July or August 2022 must be submitted with the application;
OR – A statement from the Commissioner of Revenue showing the year concerned, PE number of the company and Commissioner of Revenue receipt numbers are also sufficient.
OR – Agreements with the Commissioner of Revenue are also acceptable, only if the agreement shows the Maternity Contributions on the years in agreement are to be paid as well.

Employee’s Pay Slips for wage/salary paid during the fourteen (14) weeks of Maternity Leave.
Employee’s copy of the FS3 must be that for the year prior to that in which the child was born, and not that of the same year of the birth of the child.
A recent list of Company Employees from JobsPlus, which must not be older than one (1) week from date of application.
If an employee has stopped working before the six (6) months as stipulated by law, a signed declaration by both employer and employee stating that the Maternity Leave paid was not refunded back to the company, is to be submitted with the application.
The Identity Card number of the employee must be a valid Identity Card issued by the Maltese government agency Identità or a valid Maltese Residence Permit.
If the child is born abroad and is not registered in Malta and hence does not have a residence permit, an official birth certificate issued by the country of origin showing date of birth is to be provided.

In case of adoption:

In the case of an adoption, an official Maltese Adoption certificate from the Malta Public Registry must be provided showing the date of adoption of the child. If the child is adopted from abroad, the airline tickets showing dates when parent was abroad, together with Foreign Adoption Certificate issued by the competent authority of country of origin and document issued by Agenzija Tama, showing date when parents were awarded custody of child, are to be provided.
If both parents are in employment, whether with different employers or with the same employer on the date of adoption of the child, each parent shall be entitled to such part of the adoption leave as they may agree in writing. A copy of this agreement, signed by both parents, is to be attached with the application..

How to apply

Fill in and submit the application online.

Employers who are submitting the application must take note of the below information:
• The Basic Weekly wage to be inserted in the application which needs to show the total of:
– Basic Weekly Wage and the pro-rata statutory bonuses and allowances (€9.85 per week), and
– The employer’s portion of employee’s Social Security Contributions, which should not include any other emoluments.
• The Maternity Leave is to start either from eight (8) weeks prior to expectancy date or the most immediate date after birth of child.
• The start date of the Maternity Leave is to start with a Saturday.