Momentum proposals: Ending Precarity at Work

Workers in Malta are paying the price for an outdated and unjust employment system. Too many remain trapped on rolling definite contracts that never convert to permanent status. Parents are forced to choose between work and family because Malta’s parental leave provisions are among the weakest in Europe. And thousands of workers earn less than colleagues sitting next to them simply because their contract is signed by an agency rather than the state. Both PL and PN have allowed this to continue in practice. Momentum will change it.

Reform definite contracts and end the cycle of precarity

The widespread use of definite contracts has become a tool to keep workers in sustained uncertainty, not a legitimate response to genuine short-term needs. Momentum in Parliament will push to reduce the period after which a definite contract must convert to an indefinite one from four years to two. If a post is left vacant following a non-renewal, employers will be legally obliged to re-offer it to the same employee if the position is reopened within one year. Workers deserve stability, not a permanent state of waiting.

Increase maternity leave to 26 weeks at full pay and introduce paid shared parental leave

Malta’s current parental leave provisions fall short of what families need. Momentum in Parliament will push to increase maternity leave to 26 weeks at full pay. Parental leave will be paid at full pay for a total of one year, to be shared between parents, with four months of that entitlement made non-transferable. This will give children the start they deserve and encourage a more equal sharing of caring responsibilities between parents.

Same work, same pay regardless of who signs the contract

Across Malta, care workers, security guards, and secretaries employed by agencies or private companies routinely earn less than state employees doing identical work side by side. All this, despite recent laws, which are effectively not being enforced.This is unjust, and Momentum in Parliament will act to redress it. The same work must mean the same pay, regardless of who signs the contract.

Dr Matthew Agius, Momentum candidate in the 2nd and 8th districts, said: “Workers in Malta are only asking for a permanent contract after years of loyalty, decent leave to raise a child, and the same pay as the colleague doing the identical job next to them. Both PL and PN have had decades to deliver this and have failed. Momentum in Parliament will”

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