A deal to raise the minimum wage over a four-year period was formally signed on Saturday morning at a ceremony attended by representatives of the government and social partners.
Prime Minister Robert Abela, who presided over the signing ceremony, described it as a historic day.
“We’re here to take this important decision together. And I want to emphasise that consensus,” he said.
Abela said the party’s 2022 electoral manifesto had pledged to raise the minimum wage and the government was now doing so, and doing it through agreement with social partners.
He said the public could expect to hear more measures to help low-income workers during Monday's Budget 2024 speech.
Agreement on the minimum wage increase was reached through work done by a low wage commission set up earlier this year. The commission is chaired by David Xuereb, who also chairs the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD).
The MCESD brings together representatives of leading unions and business interests and serves as a consultative body to the government.
Abela said that the focus would now be on finding ways to improve the quality of Malta's workforce. He cited a plan to introduce a 'skills card' requirement for tourism sector workers as a case in point.
Employers have long complained about an inability to source quality workers and a survey of small business owners released on Friday hammered that point home.
How will the minimum wage rise?
The minimum wage deal, announced earlier this week, will see workers on the lowest income rung make an additional €8 a week, as well as the €12.81 weekly cost-of-living adjustment that all workers will receive.
Currently, the minimum wage is set at €192.73 per week, exclusive of COLA. That will rise to €200.73 per week in January, and then gradually to €210.73 per week by 2027.
There are currently just over 2,000 workers registered as minimum wage earners in Malta. However, the increase is expected to impact around three times that number of people, as a further 4,000 people who qualify for an in-work benefit will also see a bump in pay.
So too will part-time workers pocketing the statutory minimum, as the minimum hourly rate employees can be paid will rise to €5.34 next year.