Malta Maternity Leave Calculator 2026

How it's calculated

Your maternity pay in Malta is built from two blocks that follow one another, and the calculator simply adds them together. The first block is the employer-paid period: for the opening 14 weeks of leave your employer must pay your full basic weekly wage, the same gross amount you earn in an ordinary working week. Because this block tracks your own pay, it is the only part of the total that changes when you enter a different wage. The second block is the State Maternity Leave Benefit, paid by the Department of Social Security for the final 4 weeks. This is a flat weekly rate — €213.54 for 2026 — and it is identical for every eligible employee whatever she earns, so a woman on €300 a week and a woman on €900 a week receive exactly the same €854.16 for those last four weeks. The calculator multiplies your weekly wage by 14 to get the employer block, multiplies the flat rate by 4 to get the State block, and adds the two for your total gross maternity pay across the 18 weeks. It then divides that total by 18 to show your average weekly pay, which always sits between the flat State rate and your full wage. Entitlement to the 4-week State portion depends on actually taking more than 14 weeks of leave, and the benefit is claimed after the 18th week. All figures are gross — income tax and Social Security Contributions still come off the employer-paid weeks in the usual way.

Employer block = Gross weekly wage × 14
State block    = State flat weekly rate × 4   (= €213.54 × 4 = €854.16 in 2026)

Total maternity pay   = Employer block + State block
Average weekly pay    = Total maternity pay ÷ 18

Worked example

We take the calculator's default of a €400.00 gross weekly wage under Malta's standard 18-week structure (14 weeks of full employer pay followed by 4 weeks of the flat-rate State benefit), at the 2026 rate:

Across the full 18 weeks the average works out to €358.56 per week — lower than the €400 wage because the final four weeks are capped at the €213.54 flat State rate rather than your salary. If your wage were higher, only the €5,600.00 employer block would grow; the €854.16 State block stays fixed, so the gap between your wage and your 18-week average widens as pay rises. Conversely, an employee earning close to the State flat rate sees almost no difference between her wage and her 18-week average, because the two blocks are nearly the same size. Remember these are gross figures: income tax and Class 1 Social Security Contributions are still deducted from the 14 employer-paid weeks in the normal way, while the 4-week State benefit is shown at its full €213.54 weekly rate. The amount that actually reaches your bank account will therefore be lower than the €6,454.16 total shown above.

When your result may differ

Your actual maternity pay can move away from this estimate for a few reasons. First, the calculator uses your basic weekly wage; if your real pay includes overtime, commission or allowances that are not part of basic pay, your employer-paid weeks may be worked out on a different figure. Second, the result here is gross — once income tax and Class 1 Social Security Contributions come off the 14 employer-paid weeks, the amount that reaches your bank account is lower. Third, entitlement to the 4-week State benefit depends on actually taking more than 14 weeks of leave and meeting the contribution conditions; if you return to work after only 14 weeks, the €854.16 State portion does not apply. Finally, self-occupied and self-employed women follow a separate Maternity Benefit track with its own flat rates, so this employer-based tool does not apply to them. Always confirm your own position with the Department of Social Security.

Rates and thresholds

Malta statutory maternity leave structure and rate in force for 2026.

Sources & legal basis

Update log

• 2026-06-02 — Set the 2026 State Maternity Leave Benefit flat rate to €213.54 per week for the 4-week State portion.
• 2026-06-15 — Added the how-it-is-calculated section, worked example, when-your-result-may-differ note, rates table and official source table; verified the 14 + 4 week structure against the Employment and Industrial Relations Act and the Social Security Act.