Employer of record in Malta: costs, bonuses and rules for 2026

Malta works in weeks, not months

Malta's payroll rules are set against the basic weekly wage, and that shapes the cost.

• Class 1 SSC is banded. For workers 18 and over born from 1962 on: Category B (basic weekly wage up to EUR 229.44) pays a fixed EUR 22.94 a week; Category C (EUR 229.45 to 559.30) pays 10%; Category D (EUR 559.31 and up) pays a fixed EUR 55.93 a week. The employee pays 10% of the basic weekly wage up to the same weekly maximum. For employees born up to 1961 the maximum is EUR 49.04 a week.
• Maternity Leave Trust Fund: 0.3% in Category C, or EUR 0.69 (B) or EUR 1.68 (D) a week, paid by the employer.
• Statutory bonuses and weekly allowances: EUR 135.10 at the end of June and EUR 135.10 between December 15 and 23, plus EUR 121.16 at the end of March and at the end of September. Part-year staff get them pro rata (EUR 0.74 a calendar day for the bonuses, EUR 4.66 a working week for the allowances).
• Minimum wage: EUR 229.44 a week (EUR 5.74 an hour) at 18 and over in 2026 where no Wage Regulation Order applies; EUR 222.66 at 17 and EUR 219.82 at 16.
• Leave in hours: 192 hours a year on a 40-hour week, about 24 working days, plus a day for each public holiday that falls on a rest day.

Employment costs and rules in Malta

What an EOR charges to employ someone in Malta

A EUR 35,546 Maltese hire, all in

USD 40,000 at the ECB reference rate of 1.1253 USD per EUR (October 16, 2026) is EUR 35,546 a year, about EUR 683.58 a week. That is above the EUR 559.31 Category D threshold, so SSC is the fixed weekly maximum.

The math: (EUR 55.93 + EUR 1.68) x 52 = EUR 2,995.72, which is 8.4% of EUR 35,546. The four statutory payments add EUR 512.52, and (2,995.72 + 512.52) / 35,546 = 9.9%. Converted at 1.1253, the $7,188 annual fee ($599 x 12) is EUR 6,387.63. Some years have 53 contribution weeks, which adds one more week of SSC.

Because SSC is capped, a higher salary barely moves the employer's contribution. At $199 a month (Payoneer WFM) the fee is EUR 2,122.10 a year; at $399 (Pebl, Playroll), EUR 4,254.87; at $699 (Oyster), EUR 7,454.01. Compare other countries in the EOR cost index.

Malta contractors and self-employment

A Maltese contractor invoices you, so you avoid the employer SSC and the four statutory payments. If the role is full time, for you alone and directed by your managers, it starts to look like employment, and the bonuses and SSC are the back cost. Keep project work on contractor management software or with a contractor of record.

EOR providers that cover Malta

Multiplier holds the top spot on our 100-point scale with 79, and Oyster is runner-up with 64. In a euro country, check the conversion terms: Oyster charges a conversion fee only when you pay in a currency other than the contract currency, Remote's terms reserve a transaction fee or margin, and Atlas says it adds a disclosed markup to the OANDA spot rate, without publishing the percentage. Also ask whether the provider pays the June and December bonuses and the March and September allowances as separate lines.

The whole field is in our EOR comparison; for detail on fees and contracts, see how Oyster, Remote and Deel handle them.

A Maltese company of your own

Your own entity would pay SSC to the MTCA itself and track the weekly SSC bands and the four payment dates. Four people on a $599 plan add up to $28,752 a year; weighing an entity against an EOR shows where that tips. Mediterranean comparisons: Italy and Greece.