Amendments to Penalties and Prosecution Periods in the Employment and Industrial Relations Act
On 6 June 2025, Parliament passed Act XIV of 2025 wherein the punishments for crimes listed in the Employment and Industrial Relations Act have been increased.
Article 45 of the Employment and Industrial Relations Act stipulated that the fines range from €232.94 to €2329.37. With the June amendments the fines range from €2,000 to €5,000.
Furthermore the prescriptive period in which the prosecution can take action has increased by one year. Therefore, now the prosecution can take action against a person within two years from when the crime was committed.
Article 45(2) of the Act lists the crimes. These include when the employer fails to pay an employee’s wages or bonuses or else making an illegal deduction. Criminal action may be taken if payment is withheld in lieu of notice or else is the employer has failed to pay the employee on holidays.
Av. Malcolm Mifsud,Founding Partner at Mifsud & Mifsud Advocates
For more information you can contact one of our Team Members at Mifsud & Mifsud Advocates.
