Maternity Leave Benefit

Overview

The Maternity Leave Benefit may be awarded to a woman who has just given birth to a child or more than one child.

For information regarding cross-border situations please click here.

What you’ll get

The Maternity Leave Benefit is of a maximum of four (4) weeks entitlement.

If multiple births are born, the maternity leave benefit is paid once.

Please click here for a Schedule of Benefits Rates.

Eligibility

General eligibility criteria:

The applicant must be a citizen of Malta or married/cohabiting with a citizen of Malta, or is a citizen of a European Union Member State, or a citizen of a member country of the European Social Charter, or has a refugee status and ordinarily resides in Malta or Gozo.
The applicant must have availed herself of more than fourteen (14) weeks of maternity leave from her employer. The employer pays the first fourteen (14) weeks of Maternity Leave, while this maternity leave benefit is paid for the remainder weeks up to a maximum of four (4) weeks by the Department of Social Security.
In the case of a self-occupied person, if the full eighteen (18) weeks of maternity leave are availed of, the claimant may apply and be entitled to both Maternity Benefit and Maternity Leave Benefit.
Teachers who are paid for their Summer holidays, are entitled for the Maternity Leave Benefit.

Documentation required

General documentation:

If the applicant has a full-time and/or a part-time and/or a casual job, a declaration from all the employers is to be provided. The declaration is to include the dates of the availed maternity leave, the unpaid Maternity leave and when the applicant will be returning to her employment. Click here to download this declaration, where only the employer’s section is to be filled in.
In the case of teachers who are paid for their summer holidays, are to provide a letter from their respective Human Resources office, stating the maternity leave periods that were availed of during the summer months.
A self-occupied applicant has to provide a copy of the official receipts of Social Security Contributions paid of the year prior to the claim, together with a declaration confirming the dates of the eighteen (18) weeks unpaid maternity leave.
European Social Charter and Refugees, who are ordinary residents in Malta, have to provide a copy of a valid Residence Permit.
If child is born abroad, an official foreign birth certificate of the child is to be provided.
In case of applicant who is a third-country national married to European Union citizen, the applicant must provide an official marriage certificate.
In case of a Third-Country National (TCN) who is cohabitating with a Maltese or a European Union citizen, the applicant must provide a registered Cohabitation certificate. Otherwise, they are not eligible to the Maternity Leave Benefit. In case of Maltese or European Union Nationals working in Malta, the Cohabitation certificate is not required.

How to apply

A Maternity Leave Benefit application must be submitted after the eighteenth (18) week of maternity leave, but before six (6) months from the eighteenth (18) week, as stipulated by the Social Security Act (Cap. 318.). The benefit, or part of it, may be forfeited if the application is submitted late.

Fill in and submit the application online.