ACT No. XI of 2026 AN ACT to amend the Employment and Industrial Relations Act, Cap.

I assent.

(L.S.)

MYRIAM SPITERI DEBONO

President

2nd April, 2026

ACT No. XI of 2026

AN ACT to amend the Employment and Industrial Relations Act, Cap.

452. BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and

consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament

assembled, and by authority of the same, as follows:-

The short title of this Act is the Employment and Industrial

Relations (Amendment) Act, 2026 and this Act shall be read and

construed as one with the Employment and Industrial Relations Act,

hereinafter referred to as the "principal Act".

The marginal note of article 29 of the principal Act shall be

substituted by the following new marginal note

"Sexual harassment.".

Immediately after article 29 of the principal Act, as amended,

there shall be added the following new article

" Violence and

(1) Violence and harassment in a work

harassment.

environment shall be prohibited. Employees and

employers shall endeavour to respect each other’s right

to a work environment free from violence and

harassment.

(2)

For the purposes of this article, the term

(a)

"employee" means

(i)

an employee;

(ii) a person in training, including

interns,

trainees,

and

apprentices,

irrespective of whether the work is

regulated by a contract, or the person is

paid or unpaid;

(iii) a person whose employment has

been terminated;

(iv) a volunteer in terms of article

2(1) of the Voluntary Organisations Act,

even when such work or service is not

regulated by a specific contract of service;

(v) a person who is a prospective

employee on the basis that he is seeking

employment;

(vi) a person who is a prospective

employee on the basis that he is an applicant

for employment;

(vii) a person who is a prospective

employee on the basis that he is a candidate

for employment;

(b)

"work environment" means

(i) any workplace, including any

space where work duties are performed,

irrespective of its nature and whether it is

public or private;

(ii) any place where the worker is

paid, takes a rest break or a meal, or makes

use of sanitary, washing and changing

facilities;

(iii) any work-related trip, travel,

training, events or social activities;

(iv) through

work-related

communications, including those carried

out using information and communication

technologies;

(v) any accommodation provided

by the employer;

(vi) any trip when

a

person

commutes to and from work;

(c) "violence and harassment" means

unacceptable behaviour, practices and omissions,

or threats thereof, whether a single occurrence or

repeated, that target, result in, or are likely to

result in, physical, psychological, sexual

or

economic harm or suffering, and includes

gender-based violence and harassment;

(d) "gender-based violence and harass-

ment" means violence and harassment of a person

by reason of their sex or gender, or which

disproportionately affects persons of a particular

sex or gender, and shall include "sexual

harassment" as described in article 29, and

"gender" shall have the same meaning as assigned

to it by article 2 of the Gender-Based Violence and

Domestic Violence Act.

(3) It shall not be lawful for an employer or an

employee to act towards an employee, the employer,

another employee or a prospective employee in a

manner that is equivalent to violence and harassment in

a work environment. Such actions may take any form,

including but not limited to, requests, conduct,

behaviour or interactions, whether physical, remote or

online, and whether expressed orally, in writing,

through images or by any other means or materials.

(4) It shall not be lawful for an employer or an

employee to give rise to a circumstance or create an

environment that permits or could permit violence or

harassment in a work environment, or that may cause

an employee, the employer, another employee o r a

p r o s p e c t i v e e m p l o y e e to feel uncomfortable or

intimated, o r t o b e s u b j e c t e d t o an offensive or

abusive atmosphere, or that breaches their right to a

work environment free from violence and

harassment.".

4. Article 30 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows

(a) in sub-article (1) thereof the words "articles 26, 27,

28 or 29, may" shall be substituted by the words "articles 26, 27,

28, 29 or 29A, may";

(b) in sub-article (3) thereof the words "victimisation or

harassment, the Industrial Tribunal" shall be substituted by the

words "victimisation, sexual harassment or violence and

harassment, the Industrial Tribunal".

5. In article 31 of the principal Act the words "articles 26, 27, 28 Amendment of

and 29 and" shall be substituted by the words "articles 26, 27, 28, 29 article

principal Act.

and 29A and" and the words "victimisation or harassment" shall be

substituted by the words "victimisation, sexual harassment or violence

and harassment".

6. In article 32 of the principal Act the words "articles 28 and 29 Amendment of

shall" shall be substituted by the words "articles 28, 29 and 29A shall". article

principal Act.

7. Sub-article (2) of article 81 of the principal Act shall be Amendment of

article 81 of the

amended as follows

principal Act.

(a) in paragraph (b) thereof the words "articles 26, 27, 28

or 29, the Tribunal" shall be substituted by the words "articles 26,

27, 28, 29 or 29A, the Tribunal";

(b) in paragraph (c) thereof the words "articles 26, 27, 28

or 29 the provisions" shall be substituted by the words "articles

26, 27, 28, 29 or 29A the provisions".

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 451 of the

30th March, 2026.

ANĠLU FARRUGIA

Speaker

ELEANOR SCERRI

Clerk of the House of Representatives

€0.54