Glossary
The terms that come up in senior exits and restructuring, in plain words. Terms with a link have a page of their own.
- Appeal on a point of law
- An appeal from the Industrial Tribunal to the Court of Appeal is limited to points of law (Cap. 452, article 82(3)), so it cannot be used to reargue the facts.
- Approved person
- Someone in a role a regulator must approve, such as an MLRO or a head of compliance or risk.
- Burden of proof
- Which party must prove a fact. Usually the person making a claim proves it, but the law or the court can place the burden on the employer in some situations.
- Certificate of service
- A document the employer must give on request at the end of employment, stating its length, the work done and, if asked, the reason it ended.
- Change of control
- A sale or merger that moves control of the business to someone else.
- Class of employment
- The group of employees, by collective agreement or by the work they do, within which redundancy selection is made.
- Collective redundancy
- Redundancies above a set number within a set period. They trigger consultation and notification duties.
- Compromise
- The Civil Code's name for a settlement: a contract that ends or prevents a lawsuit, with the effect of a final judgment between the parties.
- Conflict check
- Making sure I do not act for anyone on the other side of your matter.
- Contract interpretation
- Working out what the parties agreed by reading a clause in full and in the context of the whole contract.
- Contributory conduct
- An employee's own conduct that contributed to a dismissal. The Tribunal may reduce compensation to reflect it.
- Disciplinary procedure
- The steps an employer has set, often in a staff handbook, for investigating allegations, hearing the employee and allowing an appeal before a sanction.
- Employees' representative
- The person the employer must inform and consult in a collective redundancy or transfer: usually the recognised union's representative.
- Fiduciary duty
- A duty of loyalty owed by someone entrusted with another's affairs, such as a director or senior manager: not to let personal interest conflict with it, nor to profit from the position.
- Fixed-term contract
- A contract of employment for a set period or task. Ending it early without good and sufficient cause costs the employer half the wages for the rest of the term (Cap. 452, article 36(11)).
- Full and final settlement
- A clause that ends claims arising from the employment, usually in exchange for the payment.
- Garden leave
- You stay employed and paid during notice, but stop working.
- Good and sufficient cause
- A reason relating to the employee that allows an employer to end employment without notice. Some reasons can never qualify.
- Good leaver and bad leaver
- Plan terms that decide what you keep of unvested awards when you leave.
- Gross misconduct
- Conduct serious enough to justify dismissal. Whether it does in a particular case depends on the facts and on the procedure followed.
- Industrial Tribunal
- The tribunal with exclusive jurisdiction over unfair dismissal complaints in Malta, among other employment claims (Cap. 452, article 75).
- Key function holder
- A role the MGA or MFSA must approve. The regulator may need to be told when the holder leaves.
- Malus and clawback
- Terms that let an employer reduce or recover variable pay.
- Moral damages
- Compensation for non-financial harm, such as distress or damage to reputation, as distinct from lost earnings.
- Notice period
- The time between notice of termination and the end of employment. The law sets a minimum by length of service; senior contracts often set more.
- Novation
- Replacing an obligation, or the debtor under it, with a new one. A new debtor does not release the old one unless the creditor intended to release it.
- Pay in lieu of notice
- Payment for the notice period instead of working it.
- Pay transparency
- Malta's rules, in force from 2026, on pay information, equal pay and gender pay gap reporting, under L.N. 173 of 2026.
- Penalty clause
- A sum agreed in advance as payable if a contract is broken or ended in a specified way, instead of proving the actual loss.
- Plan rules
- The document that governs a bonus, share or option scheme. It often matters more than the contract.
- Preliminary objection
- A plea asking a court or tribunal to dismiss a claim before it hears the merits, for example because the claim was settled.
- Preliminary ruling
- A ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU, on a question referred by a national court, on how EU law should be interpreted. The national court then decides the case.
- Probationary period
- The start of employment during which either side may end it without giving a reason. Usually six months; twelve for some senior posts.
- Protected disclosure
- A report of wrongdoing made through a route the law protects. An agreement cannot validly prevent or discourage one.
- Reinstatement
- An order that the employer take a dismissed employee back in the same or an equivalent post. The Industrial Tribunal may make it under Cap. 452, article 81.
- Remittal
- Sending a case back to a lower court or tribunal to decide an issue again.
- Restrictive covenant
- A contract term limiting what an employee may do after leaving, such as working for a competitor or approaching clients or staff.
- Right to re-employment
- A person made redundant must be re-employed if their former post becomes available again within one year.
- Selection pool
- The group of roles from which redundancies are chosen.
- Service provision change
- When work is outsourced, moved to a new contractor or brought back in-house. It can count as a transfer of business.
- Side letter
- A separate agreement that changes or adds to your contract.
- Special trust
- A managerial or executive post requiring special trust in its holder. The Tribunal cannot order reinstatement to such a post (Cap. 452, article 81).
- Temporary agency worker
- A worker employed by a temporary work agency and assigned to work for, and under the supervision of, another business.
- Training bond
- A contract term requiring an employee to repay training costs if they leave within a set period.
- Transfer of business
- A change of employer in which staff move with the business on their existing terms.
- Unfair dismissal
- A dismissal without a good and sufficient cause or a genuine redundancy. A complaint must reach the Industrial Tribunal within four months (Cap. 452, article 75(3)).
- User undertaking
- The business to which a temporary agency worker is assigned and under whose supervision they work.
- Walk-away point
- The least you will accept before you stop negotiating.
- Without prejudice
- A label used in settlement talks so that what is said is not later used as evidence. Its protection has limits.
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