The Work-Life Balance for Parents and Carers (Amendment) Regulations, introduced on the 21st April 2026 in virtue of Legal Notice 102 of 2026 , will come into force within two months of its publication. The amendments introduce a special leave entitlement for employees who are recognised as parents of a child born outside Malta, when the same parents would not have physically given birth to the child, in circumstances which do not fall within adoption leave.
The Regulations apply to workers who are employed on a full-time, part-time, indefinite or fixed-term basis. The entitlement applies in respect of employees who are recognised as parents on a foreign act of birth which is subsequently registered in Malta. This covers situations where the persons registered as the child’s parents are the child’s legal or recognised parents, although they are not the person who physically gave birth to the child. Adoption remains excluded from this entitlement, as it is already regulated separately. Therefore, without explicitly defining it as such, the new regulations will grant parental leave to those employees who become parents through surrogacy.
Eligible employees are entitled to 18 weeks of uninterrupted leave. The first 14 weeks are to be paid by the employer at full wages, while the remaining period is to be compensated in accordance with the Social Security Act. The leave may start either on the date of birth of the child or up to two weeks before the expected date of birth.
Where both parents are employed, they may agree in writing on how the leave is to be divided between them. In the absence of such agreement, each parent is entitled to nine weeks of leave. The Regulations also clarify that this entitlement is not to be availed of cumulatively with paternity leave in respect of the same child.
The amendments also provide important employment protections. An employee who takes this leave is entitled to return to the same post, or where this is not possible, to an equivalent position. During the leave period, the employee also retains rights and benefits which would accrue to comparable employees, including the right to be considered for opportunities arising at the workplace.
Employers are also prohibited from requiring the employee to work overtime for 12 months from the date of birth of the child. In addition, protection from dismissal applies from the date on which the employee notifies the employer of the intended leave until the end of the leave period. A dismissal during this period may therefore be subject to scrutiny, particularly where the reason for dismissal is connected with the employee’s exercise of rights under the Regulations.
In light of the above, the 2026 amendments are narrow in scope but significant in effect. They extend employment protection to a specific category of working parents who may previously have fallen outside the ordinary maternity or paternity leave framework. In doing so, the Regulations provide greater clarity for employees and employers alike, while recognising family arrangements involving children born outside Malta.
From a practical perspective, employers should ensure that this new entitlement is properly reflected in their internal policies.
For assistance on Employment law matters, particularly in relation to the applicability of parental leave and the drafting and updating of workplace policies, you are welcome to contact a member of our Employment Law Department.
