Reading your Maltese payslip line by line, and spotting underpayment

Every employer in Malta must give you a payslip, and every underpayment case starts with someone reading theirs. Ten minutes with this page and a calculator tells you whether you are paid what the law and your contract say. Keep every payslip; they are evidence, proof for renewals, and the record for long-term residence.

The lines

Line	What it must show	Check
Basic wage	Your gross for the period, before anything	At least the minimum wage: €229.44 a week in 2026, €5.74 an hour, or your sector’s higher rate
Hours	Normal hours worked	Matches your roster
Overtime	Hours beyond 40 a week and the rate	Where no sector order sets a rate, time and a half, averaged over four weeks
Cost-of-living increase	€4.66 a week for 2026, if not already inside the basic wage	Must appear once a year, for everyone
Statutory bonus	€135.10 in June and in December; €121.16 in March and September	Pro rata for part-time; separate from any company bonus
Allowances	Shift, meal, accommodation, as agreed	In the contract
Gross	Sum of the above
Income tax (FSS)	Deducted at source under the 2026 bands	Single: 0% to €12,000, 15% to €16,000, 25% to €60,000 less €3,400
Social security (Class 1)	10% of basic wage, capped at €55.93 a week for people born 1962 or later	Employer pays the same again; it is not on your side
Other deductions	Only what you agreed in writing, or the law allows	No “permit”, “recruitment”, “agent” or “training” lines
Net	What reaches your bank	Matches the transfer, by bank, since October 2025 for non-EU workers

The three checks

1. Hourly rate. Basic wage divided by hours. Under €5.74, or under your sector’s order, is underpayment. Hospitality, cleaning, security, construction and others have their own orders with higher minimums; DIER publishes them in its yearly resource pack. What those jobs pay in practice, and what it buys, is in the salaries and cost-of-living guide.
2. Overtime. Count your hours from the roster or your own notes. Hours above 40 a week that are paid at the plain rate are underpayment, unless a sector order or collective agreement says otherwise.
3. Deductions. Anything you did not agree in writing and the law does not require is unpaid wages. Accommodation charges must be agreed and reasonable; a recruitment-fee deduction is never lawful.

Worked example, €1,400 gross a month

Weekly equivalent €323.08. Social security 10% is €32.31 a week, about €140 a month. Tax at single rates on €16,800 a year is €800, about €67 a month. Net about €1,193. If your payslip says €1,400 gross and €950 net, something is being taken that should not be. Ask what, in writing. How the bands and the contributions work is on its own page.

Where the payslip must come from

The employer, every pay period, with the period, the hours, the gross, each deduction and the net. Pay at intervals of no more than four weeks. For non-EU workers hired from 1 October 2025, by bank transfer to an account in your name; cash is illegal. How to open that account has its own guide.

No payslip at all

That is itself a breach, and a sign. Write to the employer asking for payslips for every period since you started. Keep the email. If none come within a week, call DIER on 1575.

Keep

Every payslip, every bank statement, your contract, your roster or a diary of hours. On your phone and in a cloud folder. An underpayment claim in Malta can go back two years; the paper is what makes it. The complaint to DIER, step by step is the next page.

Check this at the source

• DIER, national minimum wage 2026 and hourly rate. https://dier.gov.mt/en/services/employment-conditions/wages/national-minimum-wage/
• DIER, wages FAQ: bonus amounts, four-week rule, overtime where no order applies. https://dier.gov.mt/en/faqs/wages/
• Tax rates 2026. https://mtca.gov.mt/personal-tax/tax-rates/tax-ratesindividuals
• Class 1 social security 2026. https://mtca.gov.mt/personal-tax/fss/social-security-contribution-rates/class-1---social-security-contribution-rates/2026
• DIER, bank payment of wages for third-country nationals. https://dier.gov.mt/en/faqs/salary-payments-into-bank-accounts-for-third-country-nationals/