Joshua Zammit: Pay transparency law will expose organisational culture, not just salaries

As Malta prepares for pay transparency to become law in June, Founder and Entrepreneur professional Joshua Zammit believes the real story is not the legislation itself, but the cultural shift it will trigger inside organisations.

In a LinkedIn post, Mr Zammit argued that the new legal requirements will force organisations to confront questions that have long existed but were not always closely examined. These include why certain roles are valued more than others, why people in the same role may be paid differently, and why some employees are promoted while others are not.

Mr Zammit, who is Co-Founder of MACE and Founder of Novargo, said that while these questions are not new, what is new is the expectation that leaders and HR professionals will need to justify their decisions clearly, consistently, and based on objective criteria and evidence.

Drawing on more than 25 years of experience in the field, he noted that many pay decisions are not intentionally unfair, but are often reactive rather than strategic. Factors such as market pressure, counter-offers, legacy arrangements and managerial discretion can gradually shape an organisation’s pay culture over time.

According to Mr Zammit, pay transparency will make that culture visible and may reveal whether decision-making processes have been consistent across the organisation.

He argued that the key issue for organisations is not simply whether they are ready to comply with the law, but whether they are prepared to rethink how pay decisions are made and defended. In this sense, he said, pay transparency is less about compliance and more about leadership mindset.