Cap. 318 Art. 2Interpretation.

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires -

"allowance" means any allowance payable under this Act;

"assistance" means assistance which may be given under this

Act;

"basic weekly wage" and "basic salary" mean the gross wage or salary that is payable to an employed person by or on behalf of his employer excluding any remuneration for overtime, any form of bonus, any extra allowances, any remuneration in kind and commissions;

"beneficiary" in relation to any benefit, pension, assistance or allowance means the person entitled to that benefit, pension, assistance or allowance;

"benefit" means benefit which is payable under this Act and includes Bonus, Additional Bonus and Marriage Grant;

"benefit year" means the period starting from the first Monday in

January and ending on the last Sunday before the first Monday in

January of the following year;

"care allowance" means an allowance payable under article 76A;

"child" means a person who is under the age of sixteen years and includes a stepchild, an adopted child and a child born out of wedlock;

"children’s allowance" means an allowance payable under article

76;

"claimant" means a person claiming a benefit, pension, assistance or allowance under this Act;

"Class One contribution" means a contribution which an insured person pays as an employed person;

"Class Two contribution" means a contribution which an insured person pays either as a self-employed person, or as a self-occupied person; "Committee" means the Welfare Committee established by article 130; "Consolidated Fund" means the Consolidated Fund established by article 102 of the Constitution; "contract of service" means an agreement between two persons, whether written, oral or implied, whereby one of the parties (herein called the "employee") who shall always be a physical person, shall be under an obligation to render to the other party (herein called the "employer") services by way of master and servant relationship for definite hours at a specified wage, salary, remuneration in kind or any other benefit or privilege, subject to the right of the employer to exercise control, supervision, direction, and any form of disciplinary action over the employee as to the method of performance of his duties; "contribution" means a contribution payable under this Act or which was payable under the provisions of the National Insurance Act before the date of its repeal;

"contribution year" means the period starting from the first Monday in January and ending on the last Sunday before the first Monday in January of the following year; "credited contribution" means a contribution which is not paid by a person but is nonetheless accredited to him for the ope legis purposes of this Act; "Department" means the Social Security Division; "Director" in or in respect of the provisions of this Act, other than those of articles 3 to 11, both inclusive, articles 13, 14, 15, 93(1), 112, 113, 117(2), 123 124(1) and (2), and save as otherwise provided, means the Director General (Social Security) and includes any public officer of the Department designated by him or any public officer designated by the Minister for a particular purpose or class of purposes; and in or in respect of the provisions of articles 3 to 11 both inclusive, articles 13, 14, 15, 117(2), 123 and 124(1) and (2) and save as otherwise provided, Director means the Commissioner for Tax and Customs and includes any public officer in his Department designated by him; and in or in respect of the provisions of article 93(1), and save as otherwise provided, Director means the Director responsible for the Department of the Elderly and Community Services, and includes any public officer in his department designated by him; and in or in respect of the provisions of articles 112 and 113 and save as otherwise provided, Director means the Director responsible for the Benefit Fraud and Investigation Directorate and includes any public officer in his Directorate designated by him: Provided that in or in respect of the provisions of articles 114(2), 116, 119, 120, 121, 122 and 125, the word Director means the Director General (Social Security) or the Commissioner for Tax and Customs, or each of them as the case may require; and in or in respect of the provisions of article 133, the word Director means the Director General (Social Security), or the Commissioner for Tax and Customs, or the Director responsible for the Benefit Fraud and Investigation Directorate or the Director responsible for the Department of the Elderly and Community Services, or each of them, as the case may require; "earnings" means the income derived by a self-occupied person from any economic activity (including the exercise of any trade or profession), and is to be taken net of expenses directly incurred in generating that income, and does not include:

(i) any income derived by way of any interests on any bank deposits (including any liquid assets, time deposits, bonds, stocks, shares or other securities), rents or groundrents receivable on any property, or

(ii) any other income, if any, which is not directly related to such economic activity, or

(iii) in any case, any income belonging to the spouse of such person; "employed person" means a person who has not yet passed his sixty-fifth birthday and who is employed in insurable employment; "employer" includes a body of persons being a partnership, company, fellowship or society of persons whether corporated or unincorporated and whether vested with legal personality or not, and a body corporate established by law;

"father" includes a stepfather and an adoptive father; "Fixed Children’s Allowance'' shall be that specified in the Fourteenth Schedule; "full-time basis and regularly" means physically available at home in a way as will ensure unfailing attendance and attention to and the caring of -

(a) for the purposes of article 30(8) -

(i) a relative suffering from mental severe subnormality; or

(ii) a severely disabled relative; or

(iii) a relative who is aged 60 years or over; and

(b) for the purposes of article 68, a relative who by reason of infirmity is bedridden or confined to a wheel-chair; "gainfully occupied" means employed in insurable employment or self-occupied; "head of household" in relation to a household consisting of two or more persons means such person as is in the opinion of the Director the head of household; "household" means one person who in the opinion of the Director is living alone or two or more persons who in the opinion of the Director are living together as a family:

Provided that -

(a) for the purposes of Sickness Assistance claimed in respect of a person who is over the age of sixty years, together with his wife or husband, if any, as the case may be, and children and none of whom is in insurable employment or self-occupied; and

(b) for the purposes of Sickness Assistance in respect of chronic schizophrenia in respect of any member of the household who is not the head of household or his wife, if any, such persons or such couples shall, if it is to their advantage, be considered as forming a household of their own: Provided further that for the purposes of a Free Medical Aid awarded under this Act, the Director may, if he feels that the circumstances of the household so require, exclude from the composition of the household any person or persons who would otherwise form part of it; "insurable employment" has the meaning assigned to it by article 5; "insured person" means an employed person or a self-employed person or a self-occupied person in terms of Part II of this Act; "medical treatment" means medical, surgical or rehabilitative treatment including any course or diet or other regimen, and any surgical and pharmaceutical aid; "mental severe subnormality" means arrested or incomplete development of mind, resulting in a marked lack of intelligence which in turn renders the person affected incapable of living an independent life or of guarding himself against serious exploitation or will render him so incapable when of age to do so; "Minister" means the Minister from time to time in charge of the Department and includes any officer designated by the Minister for a particular purpose or class of purposes:

Provided that in respect of the provisions of article 93, 130 and 131, and save as otherwise provided, the word Minister means the Minister responsible for the elderly and includes any officer designated by the said Minister for a particular purpose or class of purposes;

"mother" includes a stepmother and an adoptive mother; "net income" means total income net of expenses directly incurred in generating that income; "parent" includes a step-parent and an adoptive parent; "pension" means a pension payable under this Act;

"pension age" means sixty-five years of age: Provided that;

(i) (a) saving the provisions of paragraph (ii) hereof, in the case of a person born on or before the 31st December 1951, pension age shall be sixty-one years;

(b) in the case of a person born during the calendar years 1952 to 1955, pension age shall be sixty-two years;

(c) in the case of a person born during the calendar years 1956 to 1958, pension age shall be sixty-three years;

(d) in the case of a person born during the calendar years 1959 to 1961, pension age shall be sixty-four years;

(ii) in the case of a woman born on or before the 31st December 1951, pension age shall be sixty years; "pensionable income" means the average annual basic wage or salary or the net income, or earnings, calculated in accordance with the Thirteenth Schedule to this Act;

"prescribed" means prescribed by regulations; "regulations" means regulations made by the Minister under this Act and published in the Gazette; "relevant accident" and "relevant injury" mean respectively, in relation to Injury Benefit, Injury Grant or Injury Pension, the accident or injury in respect of which any of the said benefits is claimed or payable; "relevant loss of faculty" means the loss of faculty resulting from the relevant injury; "retirement" means attainment of pension age:

Provided that in respect of a person over pension age who is not in receipt of a pension and is still in insurable employment, or is self-occupied or is self-employed, retirement means the date on which he applies for a pension under Part V of this Act or on which he reaches the age of sixty-five years, whichever is the earlier:

Provided further that -

(a) in respect of a person who at any time is or was in receipt of a pension under this Act payable on or after pension age, retirement means -

(i) the date taken as his date of retirement for the purposes of awarding a pension payable after pension age, or

(ii) pension age in the case of any other person;

(b) in the case of a man who dies before reaching pension age and his wife becomes entitled to a Survivor’s Pension in terms of the proviso to article 34, retirement means the date on which such death occurs, or, if such death occurs at a time when he was in receipt of a pension in respect of invalidity under this Act, retirement means the day on which he became such an invalid; "Second Pension" means the mandatory pension scheme referred to in article 64C; "self-employed person" means a person who has not yet passed his sixty-fifth birthday, is ordinarily resident in Malta, and is not an employed person nor a self-occupied person;

"self-occupied" means a self-employed person who is engaged in any activity through which earnings exceeding €910 are per annum being derived; "self-occupied homeworker" means a self-occupied person who is engaged by an individual, for the purposes of that individual's business, solely for the execution of manual work which requires no particular trade to be done by the self-occupied homeworker at his home such as the assembly of already finished products which work gives no added value to such products, provided that such self-occupied homeworker is not so engaged by any other individual and is not otherwise gainfully occupied;

"Service Pension", means -

(i) with effect from the 1st day of April, 1978, a pension or other allowance awarded to a person at any time before or after the aforesaid date that is payable by or on behalf of his employer in respect of past services in Malta or abroad and shall in each and every case be considered on an uncommuted basis, and

(ii) with effect from the 4th January, 1992, where a person is in receipt of two or more Service Pensions, only the higher or highest, as the case may be, of such Service Pensions shall be deemed to be a Service Pension for the purpose of assessing, revising or re-assessing a pension in respect of retirement or invalidity under this Act; so however that, and solely for the purpose of assessing, revising or re-assessing a Retirement Pension in accordance with article 44 and article 47(1)(i), where a person who is in receipt of two or more such Service Pensions one of which is payable by or on behalf of the United Kingdom Government, the Director shall have the right to elect, on behalf of the person, which of such Service Pensions as aforesaid is to be deemed to be the Service Pension for this latter purpose. So however that the right to such election shall be exercised only once: Provided that, with effect from the 4th January 1992, and solely for the purpose referred to in the foregoing paragraph of this definition, where a Service Pension as aforesaid in this definition has been -

(a) commuted in part only and the pensioner has reached his 72nd birthday, 50% of the commuted part only of such Service Pension shall be taken into account: Provided that, with effect from 5th January 2019, and solely for the purpose referred to in paragraph (a), where a Service Pension has been commuted in part only and the pensioner has reached the age of seventy-two (72), twenty-five per cent (25%) of the commuted part only of such Service Pension shall be taken into account: Provided also that, with effect from 1st January 2022, and solely for the purpose referred to in paragraph (a), where a Service Pension has been commuted in part thereof only and the pensioner has reached the age of seventy-two (72) years, the commuted part shall not still be taken into account when calculating the contributory pension for the purposes of this Act: Provided also that, with effect from 1st January 2024, and solely for the purpose referred to in paragraph (a), where a Service Pension has been commuted in part thereof only and the pensioner has reached the age of seventy-two (72) years, or after twelve

(12) years from when the Service Pension is paid, whichever is the earlier, the commuted part shall not still be taken into account when calculating the contributory pension for the purposes of this Act; and

(b) commuted in whole, only 50% of such Service Pension shall be taken into account, so however that with effect from the 4th October, 1997, where such Service Pension has been commuted in whole, it shall no longer be taken into account for the purposes of this Act; and

(iii) with effect from January 6, 1996, net of increases in the amount payable of such Service Pension by way of cost of living increases awarded after January 7, 1995, and

(iv) with effect from October 4, 1997, a pension or other allowance, other than a pension or other allowance which has been commuted in whole, or which does not exceed €466 per annum, net of increases in the amount payable of such Service Pension by way of cost of living increases awarded after the initial award of such Service Pension; and

(v) with effect from the 5th January 2008, for the purposes of calculating the rate of a pension under this Act, a Service Pension net of four hundred and sixty-six euro (€466);

(vi) with effect from the 3rd January 2009, for the purposes of calculating the rate of a pension under this Act, a service pension net of another two hundred euro (€200);

(vii) with effect from 1st January 2011, for the purpose of calculating the rate of a pension under this Act, a service pension net of another two hundred euro (€200);

(viii) with effect from 7th January, 2012, for the purpose of calculating the rate of a pension under this Act, a service pension net of another two hundred euro (€200);

(ix) with effect from the 5th January 2013, for the purpose of calculating the rate of a pension under this Act, a service pension net of another two hundred euro (€200);

(x) with effect from the 4th January 2014, for the purpose of calculating the rate of a pension under this Act, a service pension net of another two hundred euro (€200);

(xi) with effect from the 3rd January, 2015, for the purpose of calculating the rate of a pension under this Act, a service pension net of another two hundred euro (€200);

(xii) with effect from the 2nd January 2016, for the purpose of calculating the rate of a pension under this Act, a service pension net of another two hundred euro (€200) and a further €200 shall be deducted with effect from the first Saturday of every calendar year after such date; and

(xiii) the Second Pension or the Third Pension which a person may receive shall not be considered as a Service Pension for the purposes of this Act; "severely disabled person" means a person who still has a reasonable expectancy of life or who will be rendered so incapable when of age to do so, owing to a disability arising from -

(a) total deafmutism; or

(b) achondroplasia, hypopituitarism, osteogenesis imper-fecta or other forms of dwarfism; or

(c) one of the following diseases, namely: Multiple Sclerosis Muscular Dystrophy Neuro Myelitis Optica Spina Bifida Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Haemophilia or any other similar permanent disorder of the blood characterised by chronic or repeated bleeding Hydrocephalus Huntington’s Chorea Cystic Fibrosis T C II Deficiency; Cerebellar Ataxia; Chronic-Granulomatous Disease; Leopard’s Syndrome; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS); Immotile Cilia Syndrome; or

(d) permanent total paralysis or permanent total severe malfunction or permanent total disease, whether through amputation or otherwise, of both upper or lower limbs; or

(e) epilepsy with a frequency of attacks exceeding four per month, which condition is confirmed by appropriate investigations including an electro-encephalogram and so certified by a Government neurologist or psychiatrist provided that the person concerned is not in possession of a driving licence; or

(f) congenital indifference to pain; or

(g) an impairment or condition not listed in any of the previous paragraphs, and that which, in conjunction with any difficulties in terms of the meaning of disability as laid down in this article, produces a disabling effect equivalent to, or greater than the percentage specified in the Fifteenth Schedule, and as confirmed by the interprofessional panel established by article 106(g);

"single parent" means a parent who is widowed, separated (whether or divorced or unmarried who is solely de facto de jure), and entirely responsible for the upkeep and upbringing of his or her dependant sons or daughters who have not yet reached 18 years of age; "terminally-ill person" means a person who is medically certified to be suffering from a serious illness whose life is not expected to go beyond twenty four months at the maximum from the date of diagnosis of the same illness; "Third Pension" means a retirement scheme set up as a personal retirement scheme in terms of the Special Funds (Regulation) Act or the Retirement Pensions Act;

"Umpire" means any umpire appointed under article 107; "visually impaired person" means a person whose visual acuity has been certified by an ophthalmologist to be so low as to render such person unable to perform any work for which eyesight is essential;

"widow" means:

(a) the surviving spouse, whether a widow or a widower, of a married couple who immediately prior to widowhood was married to the deceased spouse and had a legal right to be maintained by the other spouse;

(b) surviving cohabitant who immediately prior to the death of the other cohabitant was in a cohabitation registered under the provisions of the Cohabitation Act;

(c) surviving partner who immediately prior to the death of the other partner was in a civil union registered under the provisions of the Civil Unions Act; and

(d) persons who prove to the satisfaction of the Director, by providing the necessary documentation, that they have been living together in similar circumstances to marriage, civil union or cohabitation for at least ten

(10) years immediately prior to the death of one (1) of the couple living in similar circumstances to marriage, civil union or cohabitation and that the marriage, civil union or cohabitation was not contracted and registered because of such death of one (1) of the couple, which death occurred between 1st January 2017 and 31st December 2020, and in relation to an actual widow, wherever it appears, husband shall include wife.

(2) For the purposes of this Act -

(a) a person shall be deemed to be over or under any age if he has or has not reached that age;

(b) a person shall be deemed to be between two ages if he has reached the lower but has not reached the upper of these two ages;

(c) a person shall be deemed not to have reached any particular age until the beginning of the anniversary of the date of his birthday relevant to that particular age.

(3) For the purposes of awarding -

(i) a widows’ pension or a retirement pension, in terms of this Act, a person born on or before the 31st December 1961 and who, during the last ten years ending on the last day of the calendar year immediately preceding such person’s retirement or widowhood; or

(ii) an invalidity pension, in terms of this Act, a person who, during the last ten years ending on the last day of the calendar year immediately preceding such person’s becoming an invalid, was an insured person, shall be treated as an employed person, or as a self-employed person, or as a self-occupied person according to the number of years, or part thereof, he spent in insurable employment or as a self-employed person, or as a self-occupied person and where the greater number of years, or part thereof, were spent in insurable employment, he shall be treated as an employed person; and where the greater number of years, or part thereof, were spent as a self-employed person, he shall be treated as a self-employed person; and where the greater number of years, or part thereof, were spent as a self-occupied person, he shall be treated as a self-occupied person:

Provided that a person who, in accordance with this sub-article is to be treated as a self-employed person, shall, if it is to his advantage, be treated as an employed person if immediately before the fifteenth year prior to his retirement or invalidity, as the case may be, he was an employed person for not less than twenty years and has continued to be so employed for any period within the said last fifteen years and has not after such period become self-occupied.