Over 33,000 public service workers are poised to get a pay bump and and better working conditions, after a new collective agreement for the public sector was formally signed on Friday.
Following negotiations between the government and 10 unions, the agreement will take effect on January 1, 2025.
Speaking during the signing of the "historic" agreement, Prime Minister Robert Abela said the government would have spent over €1.27 billion more on its workers by 2030, when the agreement is set to expire.
Times of Malta had exclusively revealed details about the new deal back in October.
Abela said most of the money will go towards increasing salaries.
Managers, police inspectors and other public service workers who fall under Scale 7 will see their maximum yearly wage increase from €32,000 in 2024 to €42,000 in 2030.
Scale 12 workers, which include Diploma-qualified nurses, will see their maximum salary go up to €31,000 in the next five years, an increase from their current salary of €23,000.
Abela said those in the lower scales of the public service are the biggest winners of the agreement.
Those on scale 20 - the lowest civil sector scale- will now advance to scale 18 within two years and begin earning €18,227 by 2030. The starting salary for scale 20 will also increase, Abela said.
Those who have been working with the government for a year on scale 20, will immediately move to scale 18.
"Biggest collective agreement"
Describing the agreement "as the biggest collective agreement in Maltese history with the biggest investment" Principle Permanent Secretary Tony Sultana outlined several measures that will take effect come the new year.
He highlighted a change in the way overtime is calculated for middle management positions - those on scales 7 to 10.
Previously, overtime rates were capped at rates applicable to scale 10, meaning middle managers on higher scales were being paid overtime rates not pegged to their hourly rate.
Gradually that measure will be eliminated and overtime rates will now reflect the hourly rate the worker is earning, Sultana said.
Workers who have been working with the government for over 25 years will receive a new allowance for their longevity in the public service, he added.