Self-employment in Malta is regulated by the general laws on trade and commerce but does not enjoy any protection from employment laws.

According to the Employment Status National Standard Order¹, an individual providing a service through a service agreement, may in fact be considered as an employee of the individual/organisation to whom the service is being rendered. The above-mentioned national standard order requires the individual providing the service to fulfill five out of eight of the below criteria in order to be considered as an employee and not as self-employed:

• 75% of the individual's entire income over a period of one year is derived from one person and hence, the individual depends on one person for the majority of his work income,
• One person is responsible to manage the tasks and work of the individual,
• The individual carries out his/her duties using the equipment and material of the person for whom the service is being provided,
• The individual's working schedule is provided by the person for whom the service is provided,
• The individual may not assign his duties related to the services provided to another,
• The individual has integrated in the structure of the production process, the work organisation or the company's or other organization hierarchy,
• The individual's input is considered of high importance and pivotal in the organisation's business trajectory,
• The individual's employment duties are similar to those of current and/or ex-employees.

Should the...

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