Workplace Gender Equality and Equity in Malta
Workplace equality means giving employees fair access to opportunity, treatment and protection. Equity considers whether apparently neutral arrangements create practical barriers for particular groups and whether proportionate support is needed to achieve fair participation. For employers, both ideas should influence everyday decisions rather than appear only in a policy statement.
1. Review policies and actual practice
Begin with employment contracts, equality and harassment policies, recruitment procedures, promotion criteria, flexible-working arrangements and complaint channels. Compare the written rules with what happens in practice. A policy offers limited protection if managers apply it inconsistently or employees do not know how to raise concerns.
2. Use clear recruitment and promotion criteria
Define the skills and experience required for a role before considering candidates. Apply the same evidence-based criteria to everyone and keep a record of the reasons for decisions. Review whether job descriptions, advertising channels, interview questions or informal sponsorship practices unnecessarily restrict who can compete for an opportunity.
3. Examine pay and access to opportunity
Look beyond headline salary figures. Consider starting pay, bonuses, allowances, overtime, training, high-profile assignments and routes to promotion. Differences may have legitimate explanations, but employers should be able to identify and document those reasons. Clear criteria make decisions easier to explain and review.
4. Consider structural barriers
Working patterns, meeting times, travel expectations and assumptions about availability can affect employees differently. Flexible arrangements or other forms of support may help remove a disadvantage without lowering the standards required for a role. Assess requests individually and avoid assumptions about an employee’s responsibilities or ambitions.
5. Prevent discrimination and harassment
Set clear behavioural expectations and ensure managers understand how to respond when a concern is raised. Training should use realistic workplace examples and explain both prohibited conduct and the organisation’s reporting process. Concerns should be treated seriously, handled sensitively and examined without prejudging the outcome.
6. Provide safe reporting channels
Employees should know whom they can approach, including where the concern involves their direct manager. Explain how confidentiality will be handled, what the process involves and how retaliation will be addressed. Keep records and communicate with the people involved at appropriate stages.
7. Measure progress and accountability
Review workforce information, employee feedback, recruitment outcomes, promotion patterns and pay decisions where appropriate. Data should be handled lawfully and interpreted carefully. The purpose is to identify recurring barriers, test whether measures are working and decide what should change next.
When to obtain employment-law advice
Advice should be considered when developing equality policies, reviewing a pay or promotion concern, responding to an allegation of discrimination or harassment, or planning formal action connected with a protected characteristic or complaint.
About this resource
This topic was originally presented as a Ten Yards Legal webinar for International Women’s Day on 7 March 2023 under the theme #EmbraceEquity. The page has since been updated as a practical resource for employers in Malta.
Need advice on workplace equality?
Ten Yards Legal advises Malta employers on equality policies, discrimination and harassment concerns, workplace investigations and fair employment procedures. Contact our employment-law team before taking formal action.