The government has announced its plans to introduce seven days of miscarriage leave for affected couples.

Affected couples will be entitled to seven days of miscarriage leave - a new kind of leave, independent from sick leave - if they have tragically suffered a miscarriage. This leave will also be applicable to non-married couples.

This policy is to be presented in front of the DIER's Employment Relations Board before later being presented and discussed for implementation in Parliament.

Parliamentary Secretary Andy Ellul told journalists during a press briefing that, after listening to medical professionals, psychologists, social partners, mothers, and their partners throughout the public consultation, the government believes that this policy safeguards workers' rights while balancing fairness with employers.

Ellul remarked that this measure will promote dignity, empathy and social justice in the workplace.

This policy will apply to all pregnant couples (married, unmarried and same-sex couples) and is forecasted to support around 2,000 people around the country per years. This miscarriage leave will also be applicable in the occurrence of pregnancy complications following IVF processes or in ectopic or molar pregnancies.

The government is also proposing that miscarriage leave could also be applied for in cases where medical intervention is necessary to save the pregnant mother, in reference to Article 234B of the Maltese Criminal Code.

Through these proposals, mothers who have a miscarriage, as well as their partners, will be entitled to seven consecutive days of miscarriage leave. This leave will be calculated through a calculation of Malta's median wage and will be paid entirely by the Maltese government. Part-timers are eligible for this leave on a pro-rata basis.

This leave will be applicable to all workers within the public sector and public service, those in the private sector, and self-employed people.

The government will also be paying affected persons' national insurance contributions for both employers and employees. The median wage is currently around double the minimum wage.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Social Dialogue, Andy Ellul, said that from the approximate 4,000 pregnancies every year in the Maltese islands, around 20% result in a miscarriage. While official figures indicate around 320 miscarriages per year, the government has learned that around 700 cases go unregistered annually.

Through this policy, the government is also proposing the establishment of a national registry whereby national authorities will keep record about how many times this leave has been applied, as well as to record cases where this special leave is abused of.

To apply for miscarriage leave, an affected mother and their partner will need to present a medical certificate signed by a certified gynaecologist not later than two days after their return to work. This medical certificate must only certify that that person or their partner has had a miscarriage; no details on their particular case should be disclosed in this certificate, which must be handed to their employer. The bereaved woman's partner may use the same medical certificate given to their partner.

Employers receiving this information are to handle this data with strict confidence. Guidelines will be forwarded to social partners to ensure that they are well-prepared to handle these cases once the law is enacted. Employers will be obliged not to alter the working conditions of those who apply for miscarriage leave, nor affect their career progression.

Affected couples are to be granted psychological support following their miscarriage, also paid by the government. The technical details surrounding this aspect are yet to be confirmed and disclosed.

"This is not a half-baked policy - it features concrete, detailed proposals," Parliamentary Secretary Ellul said, "We tried to be holistic in this implementation and hope to safeguard workers' rights and balance fairness with employers."

Ellul said that the government opted for miscarriage leave to be seven consecutive days long after analysing foreign miscarriage leave models and after consulting with people who deal with or are affected by miscarriages in the Maltese islands. He said that many medical professionals advised miscarriage leave to be at least five days long, and that the government was not in favour of New Zealand's three days or France's position to give doctors' free reign on the duration period.

He stressed that this will not solve the trauma, as this remains for life, however, this period should give affected couples time to process the traumatic experience they have endured.

This law defines a miscarriage as a pregnancy that ends not later than 22 weeks into the pregnancy; this falls in line with WHO's definition. To resolve a potential legal loophole and ensure that all affected couples are supported through such measures, this policy shall also be amending the window within which those affected may apply for maternity leave. Once this policy is enacted, maternity leave will be applicable from 23 weeks into the pregnancy - down from 28 weeks.

Following discussions on this measure, which involved sensitive insights into the sentiments and experiences of bereaved couple, the government has decided that it will be amending bereavement leave over the coming weeks. At the moment, bereavement leave in the Maltese islands consists of at least one working day. During the press briefing, journalists were told that this typically consists of three days off.

This policy has been proposed after four months of public consultation. This public consultation process began through a national conference in April and officially ended on Thursday, 31 July 2025. Following April's national conference, three other in-person sessions were held to collect the necessary data.