Malta Vacation Leave Calculator 2026
Work out your statutory vacation (annual) leave entitlement in Malta for 2026. This calculator counts your leave in hours on a 40-hour week, 8-hour day basis, applies the 192-hour DIER base plus the 24-hour bonus for the three 2026 public holidays that fall on a weekend, and pro-rates everything for part-time hours and a partial year of service. Free, instant and based on the rules published by the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER).
Your 2026 vacation leave in Malta
- Remaining leave (hours)216 h
- Remaining leave (days)27 days
- Annual entitlement (hours)216 h
- Annual entitlement (days)27 days
- Leave already taken (hours)0 h
- Full-time 2026 entitlement216 h (27 days)
- Incl. weekend-holiday bonus (2026)24 h
How it's calculated
Maltese law expresses statutory annual leave — what most people call vacation leave — in hours rather than days, working on a standard 40-hour week and an 8-hour day. Counting in hours lets the entitlement be split and pro-rated fairly for part-time and reduced-hours staff, and it lets you draw down individual hours as you take them rather than only whole days. The base set by the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER) under the Organisation of Working Time Regulations is "four weeks and 32 hours", which equals 192 hours, or 24 working days. On top of that sits a calendar-driven top-up that has applied since 1 January 2021: for every national or public holiday that falls on a Saturday, Sunday or your weekly day of rest, you are credited an extra day — 8 hours — of vacation leave for that year. The logic is that you should not lose the benefit of a public holiday simply because it happens to land on a day you were not going to work anyway. In 2026, Malta has 14 public holidays and three of them land on a weekend — Sette Giugno on Sunday 7 June, the Assumption on Saturday 15 August and Republic Day on Sunday 13 December — so the bonus is 3 × 8 = 24 hours. The full-time 2026 entitlement is therefore 192 + 24 = 216 hours, or 27 days. The calculator then applies two pro-rata factors. Reduced or part-time hours scale the entitlement by your weekly hours ÷ 40, so someone on a contracted 30-hour week receives three-quarters of the full figure; a partial year of employment scales it by months worked ÷ 12, which is how new starters and leavers accrue only the portion of the year they actually worked. Both factors multiply together, so they can be combined for someone who is both part-time and a mid-year starter. Finally, any leave you have already taken this year is subtracted to give your remaining balance, and every hours figure is also shown in days by dividing by 8. Because the weekend-holiday bonus shifts with the calendar, this entitlement is recomputed annually and is not a fixed number from one year to the next.
Full-time entitlement = base hours + weekend-holiday bonus
= 192 + (weekend public holidays × 8)
Pro-rated entitlement = full-time entitlement
× (weekly hours ÷ 40)
× (months worked ÷ 12)
Remaining leave = pro-rated entitlement − leave already taken
Days = hours ÷ 8Worked example
We take the calculator's default case — a full-time employee on a 40-hour week, employed for the whole of 2026, who has not yet taken any leave (weeklyHours = 40, monthsWorked = 12, leaveTakenHours = 0):
| Statutory base (4 weeks and 32 hours)24 working days × 8 h | 192 h |
| Weekend public-holiday bonus (2026)3 holidays on a weekend × 8 h | +24 h |
| Full-time 2026 entitlement192 + 24 = 27 days | 216 h |
| Hours pro-rata factor40 ÷ 40 | 1.00 |
| Year pro-rata factor12 ÷ 12 | 1.00 |
| Pro-rated entitlement216 × 1.00 × 1.00 = 27 days | 216 h |
| Leave already taken | −0 h |
| Remaining vacation leave27 days | 216 h |
A full-time worker on a 40-hour week therefore has 216 hours (27 days) of paid vacation leave in 2026. Change the inputs and the pro-rata factors do the rest. A part-time worker on 20 hours a week scales by 20 ÷ 40 = 0.50, giving 216 × 0.50 = 108 hours (13.5 days), and after taking 40 hours would have 108 − 40 = 68 hours (8.5 days) left. A full-time starter employed for only 6 of the 12 months scales by 6 ÷ 12 = 0.50, again landing on 108 hours (13.5 days). The two factors combine, so a part-timer on 20 hours a week for 6 months would get 216 × 0.50 × 0.50 = 54 hours (6.75 days). Notice that the figures are driven entirely by the inputs you give: the calculator does not assume a contractual top-up, so if your contract or collective agreement is more generous than the statutory minimum you should enter your own entitlement rather than rely on the 216-hour base. The remaining balance is simply the pro-rated entitlement minus the leave you have already taken, recalculated the moment any input changes.
When your result may differ
This calculator returns the statutory minimum for 2026, so your actual entitlement can be higher or be counted differently. A contract of employment or collective agreement may grant more leave than the law requires, and many Maltese employers do — whether as extra days, a more generous accrual or better carry-over terms. The weekend-holiday bonus changes every year: where more or fewer of the 14 public holidays fall on a Saturday, Sunday or your rest day, the total moves by 8 hours per holiday, so a 2027 entitlement need not equal this year's 216 hours. Workers whose weekly day of rest is not the weekend, such as shift and roster staff, test each holiday against their own rest day. Irregular hours, multiple jobs or mid-year changes to contracted hours mean the weekly-hours ÷ 40 factor is only an approximation, and your employer may average hours over a reference period instead. Finally, the first four weeks — 160 hours — cannot be paid in lieu except on termination. For a binding position, check the DIER guidance or contact the Department directly.
Rates and thresholds
Statutory vacation-leave parameters for Malta in 2026, on a 40-hour week and 8-hour day (DIER / Organisation of Working Time Regulations).
| Item | 2026 value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Statutory base entitlement | 192 hours (24 days) | "4 weeks and 32 hours" |
| Full-time week / working day | 40 hours / 8 hours | Basis for hours-to-days conversion |
| Public holidays in 2026 | 14 | Per the National Holidays and Public Holidays Act |
| Holidays falling on a weekend | 3 | Sette Giugno, Assumption, Republic Day |
| Weekend-holiday bonus | 24 hours (3 days) | 8 hours per weekend holiday |
| Full-time 2026 entitlement | 216 hours (27 days) | 192 + 24 |
| Non-replaceable core leave | 160 hours (4 weeks) | Payable in lieu only on termination |
Sources & legal basis
| Source | What it covers | Last checked |
|---|---|---|
| DIER — Vacation Leave | Statutory annual (vacation) leave entitlement, the 4-weeks-and-32-hours base and the weekend public-holiday top-up | |
| Laws of Malta — Organisation of Working Time Regulations (S.L. 452.87) | Legal basis for annual leave and the extra day where a public holiday falls on a weekend or rest day | |
| Laws of Malta — National Holidays and Other Public Holidays Act (Cap. 252) | The 14 national and public holidays used to compute the weekend-holiday bonus |
Update log
- — Updated to 2026: 14 public holidays with 3 falling on a weekend, giving a 24-hour bonus and a 216-hour (27-day) full-time entitlement.
- — Added how-it-works explainer, worked example, when-it-differs notes, a 2026 parameters table and a sourced legal-basis table.
Frequently asked questions
How many hours of vacation leave do I get in Malta in 2026?
A full-time employee on a 40-hour week is entitled to 216 hours of paid vacation leave in 2026 — that is 27 working days. The figure is the 192-hour statutory base (4 weeks and 32 hours, or 24 days) plus 24 hours in lieu of the 3 public holidays that fall on a weekend in 2026.
Why is leave counted in hours and not days?
DIER expresses statutory annual leave in hours so it can be pro-rated fairly for part-time and reduced-hours staff. The conversion is fixed at 8 hours = 1 working day on a 40-hour week. So 216 hours simply equals 27 days, and 192 hours equals 24 days. Counting in hours also makes it easy to deduct individual hours of leave as you take them.
What is the weekend public-holiday bonus?
Since 1 January 2021, whenever a national or public holiday falls on a Saturday, Sunday or your weekly day of rest, you earn one extra day (8 hours) of vacation leave that year. In 2026, 3 of Malta's 14 public holidays fall on a weekend, so 3 × 8 = 24 hours are added to the 192-hour base, giving 216 hours. Because the calendar shifts each year, this bonus is recomputed annually.
How is my leave pro-rated if I work part-time or only part of the year?
Two factors are multiplied together. For hours, the entitlement is scaled by your weekly hours ÷ 40 — so 20 hours a week gives 0.50, halving the entitlement to 108 hours. For a partial year, it is scaled by months worked ÷ 12 — so 6 months gives 0.50. A part-time starter who works 20 hours a week for 6 months would get 216 × 0.50 × 0.50 = 54 hours (6.75 days).
Can I be paid instead of taking my leave?
Not for the core of it. The first four weeks — 160 hours — of your annual leave cannot be replaced by a payment in lieu except when your employment ends. Any entitlement above that minimum may, by agreement, be paid out or carried forward subject to the rules and your employer's policy. This calculator shows the statutory entitlement, not your contractual cash-out terms.
Does this calculator replace my contract or DIER advice?
No. It applies the statutory minimum set by DIER for 2026. Your individual contract of employment or a collective agreement may grant more leave, and special rules can apply to shift workers, those with irregular hours, or staff whose weekly day of rest is not the weekend. For a binding position, check the official DIER guidance or contact the Department directly.