Over the past years, the labour market policies introduced by the Government have incentivised people to enter in employment while raising household incomes. These incentives include the free childcare, the tax refunds and the In-work Benefit scheme.
In the 2022 Budget presented by the Minister for Finance and Employment Clyde Caruana, another measure was announced to incentivise workers to work in specific sectors with atypical time schedules.
All employees in the private sector who work shifts, on weekends or after 6pm and whose basic salary does not exceed €20,000 per year, will now benefit from a new In-Work Benefit of €150 per year.
The sectors included in this scheme are the accommodation and food services, the administrative and support services, the manufacturing, the transport and storage, and the wholesale and retail trade. Only primary Employments are Eligible. For those employees who worked atypical hours in 2021 (if still eligible), no updates on their working patterns will be sought.
Around 40,000 employees will benefit from this scheme which will leave around €6 million in the Maltese economy.
In order to implement this budget measure, Jobsplus conducted a data collection exercise with all relevant employers in order to identify employees that have been working with the same employer for at least six months at atypical times in the aforementioned sectors.
This deadline for the data collection was the 15th of September 2023. The data is now being reviewed by stakeholders and if a person is eligible for the benefit this will be received by the end of the year 2023.
For more information about this Scheme kindly contact: 153