We Tested the Best HR Software in Malta

Malta is a country with an upward trend in its HR sector. There’s a growing demand for talented HR professionals, and organizations are ready to pay a premium for the best. There’s also a rapidly evolving focus on artificial intelligence integration and strategic workforce management.

But the sector still has its challenges.

A survey by Lovin Malta found that 20% of the respondents were feeling burnt out at work—highlighting the increasing stress the HR workforce in Malta faces.

There are many reasons that increase an HR manager’s responsibilities and cause burnout:

Companies might go on hiring sprees, leading to a surge in onboarding and paperwork
Employees may expect more than just a paycheck, such as a more inclusive work environment
The rise of remote and hybrid work models may require HR to develop new policies and procedures
Global hiring may add complexity to HR processes with factors such as payment compliance and tax management

But the good news is that many HR platforms can address these concerns.

In this blog post, my team and I’ve researched 10 of the top HR software in Malta to help you solve the most pressing HR challenges and understand which is the best fit for your processes.

What Should You Look for in HR Software?

If there’s one team that’s universally bogged down by admin work and operational workflows, it’s the HR department. If you spend too much time juggling spreadsheets and documents, we’ve got you covered.

While testing these HR software platforms, we majorly focused on these five must-have factors that can save you time:

Employee portal: Employees can access their payslips and update details such as attendance and leave requests without needing you to play the middleman
Automations: Aim to outsource repetitive tasks so you’re not bogged down in manual processes
Data and reporting: Detailed reports give you immediate access to important metrics such as attendance trends, salary benchmarks, and diversity percentages
GDPR compliance: Since Malta is part of the European Union (EU) and therefore subject to GDPR, my team and I prioritized platforms that went the extra mile to stay compliant with the latest regulations
Ease of use: With so much on your plate, the last thing you need is a platform with a steep learning curve. Ideally, it should be easy to use that doesn’t require additional training. But if not, then it should at least come with good onboarding support

We’ve also highlighted some of the standout features in each platform—such as AI capabilities and location-specific support—so you can pick the best tool depending on your company structure and the HR team’s goals.

The 10 Best HR Software to Use

Let’s check out the top 10 HR software in Malta and understand how they can help you improve your workflows and save time.

1. ClickUp: Best for HR project management

I’ve learned in my career that having a single space for managing most of your work saves a ton of time. And ClickUp does just that!

ClickUp is a combined project, document, and communication management platform that can help HR professionals plan projects, keep track of their goals, and document their workflows.

As ClickUp reduces data silos—bringing all company and employee information together—it makes onboarding new hires smoother as well.

Here are some ways that ClickUp’s HR solution and templates can help you:

Document your processes

To start with, you can create comprehensive wikis for different aspects of your hiring process, such as the interview process, onboarding, and performance reviews, using ClickUp Docs. This document management feature ensures transparency and gives all teams an idea of how hiring happens at your company and who they should approach.

Also, ClickUp Docs’ collaboration features, such as co-creation, co-editing, and comments, make it easy to share these documents with leadership for review and approval. Another way you can leverage Docs is by creating an employee handbook—with details such as company protocols, leave policies, department functions, and benefit plans.

Customize the ClickUp Knowledge Base Template with your company details and share with employees and new hires

The ClickUp Knowledge Base Template is one of our favorites for this! It allows our HR department to set company policies and define core values in a central and easily accessible location. It helps you:

Create a fully custom employee handbook with details such as code of conduct, leave policies, and legal requirements
Collaborate with your finance team or department heads so they can add specific details, such as your payroll process or travel policies
Make the knowledge base public and share it with potential candidates to get an idea of the company’s work culture

Download This Template

Centralize employee details

If you’re using different human resource management, recruitment, cloud-based payroll software, and accounting software, there’s a high possibility for data silos, duplication, and confusion. But as ClickUp integrates with most HRIS systems and has automation capabilities, you can bring all data to one dashboard, creating a central employee database.

For example, you can set up an automated trigger to add new hires to your employee directory or org chart in ClickUp whenever they’re added to your payroll platform. In our experience, the ClickUp Employee Directory Template is a great resource here.

Centralize all employee records by creating an easily searchable database using the ClickUp Employee Directory Template

With this template, you can:

Create custom tags for different types of employees—full-time, freelancer, intern
Add personal details such as employee birthday, work anniversary, and more (and schedule automation to wish them on those days)
Give your employees a way to quickly find the right DRI in different teams for cross-functional collaboration

Download This Template

Manage your recruitment pipeline

ClickUp Tasks is great for managing all HR tasks in one place, split by projects or stages of completion. Use this feature to create projects for different roles, along with subtasks and checklists. You can also use automations to move candidates through different stages of the interview process or remind interviewers about the next steps.

Make onboarding hassle-free

Improve onboarding by creating a new onboarding project for each new employee with a checklist of tasks in ClickUp—the tools they need to access, the documents they have to read, and more.

New hires (and their managers) can also use the ClickUp Goals feature to track their onboarding tasks. For example, I use this feature to set up yes/no goals that new employees in my team can mark off as they proceed with their onboarding process.

Another idea is to create a common goal for each new-hire batch to get a cumulative view of their progress.

Cut down busywork with AI

ClickUp Brain’s AI capabilities can save HR teams time and streamline workflows. You can use it to summarize lengthy documents, draft policies by prompting the details you need to be addressed, and find the right information from your tasks and projects quickly.

Global teams can also use its translation capabilities to create localized policies, invoices, and forms. Here are some more ways ClickUp Brain can boost your HR team’s productivity:

Improved employee self-service: Equip employees with an AI-powered knowledge base. The brain can answer frequently asked questions about benefits, policies, and onboarding processes, reducing the burden on HR for routine inquiries

Smarter onboarding: Use Brain to automate and personalize onboarding tasks. It can generate customized welcome emails, walk new hires through onboarding steps, and suggest relevant training materials
Reduced bias in recruitment: The brain can help screen resumes and job applications based on pre-defined criteria, minimizing unconscious bias in the initial stages of recruitment
Proactive problem-solving: ClickUp Brain can analyze employee sentiment from internal surveys and feedback. This allows HR to identify potential issues early on and take steps to address them before they escalate

ClickUp best features

Track recruitment processes: Use ClickUp Hierarchy to customize your Workspace with dedicated Folders or Lists for various functions like recruitment and onboarding, payroll management, performance management, offboarding, etc. Build on them by creating specific tasks and assigning them to relevant team members to ensure you don’t miss anything
Onboard employees: Create employee handbooks, org charts, and custom onboarding projects for each employee to ensure a smooth onboarding process
Save time with ClickUp Automations: Set automations to update hiring managers about the interview stage, sync data from HRIS tools, and even wish employees their birthdays
Run performance reviews: Leverage ClickUp’s free performance review templates to plan annual reviews and monitor an employee’s career trajectory
Get employee feedback: Use ClickUp Forms to run surveys and gauge employee sentiment toward the work culture, organizational policies, work environment, and more

ClickUp limitations

Some users have reported a steep learning curve
ClickUp Brain can’t perform complex numerical analysis yet

ClickUp pricing

Free Forever
Unlimited: $7/user per month
Business: $12/user per month
Enterprise: Contact for pricing
ClickUp Brain is available on all paid plans for $7 per Workspace member per month

ClickUp ratings and reviews

G2: 4.7/5 (9500+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.6/5 (4000+ reviews)

2. Paychex Flex: Best for companies that require business insurance management

Paychex Flex is an HR management platform that stands out for its insurance management support. It supports insurance coverage for not just employee health but also business operations, such as general and cyber liabilities.

I’ve seen firsthand how this has helped clients avoid a major headache. A data breach can be devastating for a small business, but they could recover quickly and without financial ruin because they had cyber liability insurance included through Paychex Flex.

Paychex Flex also offers many features as add-ons, such as a learning management system, retirement planning tool, and worker compensation coverage. This makes it a cost-effective platform for small businesses, and you can pick and choose the features you need as you grow.

Paychex Flex’s best features

Manage payroll and file taxes from both your desktop and mobile phone
Generate reports such as cash requirements and job costing with just a click
Report new hires to government agencies and add them to your employee benefits and retirement plans

Paychex Flex limitations

Time-tracking and attendance management are two different features which can lead to a disjointed user experience
Limited customizations for reports, and you can’t download them to Excel as well

Paychex Flex pricing

Custom pricing

Paychex Flex ratings and reviews

G2: 4.2/5 (1500+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.2/5 (1500+ reviews)

3. Justworks: Best for small businesses requiring an uncomplicated payroll management platform

Justworks is an all-in-one people experience management platform for small and mid-sized businesses. This is suitable for a company with most employees in one location but which also hires international freelancers or consultants such as agencies and creative firms.

For instance, Justworks makes it easier for US companies to hire Maltese employees and contractors by allowing them to tailor the onboarding experience and comply with the Maltese social security and leave policies by default.

Two features of the platform that I liked were time-tracking and small-business-focused benefits packages. You can track time from Slack, the mobile app, and even automated geofencing options, which means the clock starts as soon as an employee enters the office.

It also gives you access to benefit-rich health insurance plans with services such as mental health support, primary care, and fertility at zero extra cost. This can be a huge perk for attracting and retaining top talent, especially considering the rising costs of health insurance.

Justworks best features

Automate managing payroll for both employees and international contractors with features such as recurring and one-time payments and tax-filing support
Allow employees to pick and manage their benefit plans from the self-service portal
Set up policies and track leave balances right from the mobile app

Justworks limitations

Doesn’t support full-time, international employees
Some users have reported the mobile app experience to be buggy

Justworks pricing

Payroll: $50 base fee + $8/employee per month
PEO Basic: $59/employee per month
PEO Plus: $109/employee per month

Justworks ratings and reviews

G2: 4.6/5 (500+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.6/5 (700+ reviews)

4. Rippling: Best for companies that need an all-in-one human resources, IT, and payroll management solution

If you need all-in-one business tools that address the end-to-end requirements of HR, payroll, and IT management teams, consider Rippling. In my experience, it’s been a lifesaver for companies juggling complex global operations.

Access a large set of features ranging from global recruiting, global payroll processing, and performance reviews to device management and a learning management system to host compliance-related courses.

Rippling also makes it super easy to hire local contractors in Malta. From classifying correctly in the Employment Status National Standard Order to registering your business with the Malta Inland Revenue Department (IRD), it does everything. And the onboarding time for new contractors is less than five minutes.

The last feature especially can be useful for companies with stringent compliance and security processes and guidelines. You can ask employees to complete courses on topics such as safety training, data privacy, and department-specific compliance protocols, keep track of participation, and award badges.

Rippling best features

Allot devices for remote employees and set them up from anywhere, making onboarding a breeze
View employees, contractors, and open roles in one dashboard and forecast hiring plans easily
Get employee feedback using automated surveys with rule-based triggers, such as after they complete their onboarding or when reviewing employee performance

Rippling limitations

Going through multiple implementation cycles for each country can be time-consuming
The employee list can only be sorted when filtering it, which makes the default list cluttered
Some users have also found Rippling’s pricing structure to be complicated

Rippling pricing

Custom pricing

Rippling ratings and reviews

G2: 4.8/5 (2300+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.9/5 (3000+ reviews)

5. Multiplier: Best for global companies that require relocation services along with payroll management

Whether you’re leveraging freelancers, hiring full-timers locally, or relocating them from their home country to yours, Multiplier streamlines the entire process. Multiplier is an HR management platform for startups and mid-sized companies wanting to expand into global markets quickly.

Its Employer of Record (EOR) service is available in 150+ countries, and its VISA support services are available in 140+ countries. In both cases, their team of experts handles all of the regional processes and admin work. All you have to do is track progress on the dashboard.

Plus, as you offload local taxes to Multiplier, you can remain compliant by default. This peace of mind has been invaluable to many as they’ve built their international team.

Multiplier best features

Generate global, cross-border, ESOP-included compensation packages
Ensure that your leave and attendance policies are compliant with Maltese labor laws
Offer cost-effective and Malta-specific insurance packages
Send employees their company laptops and other devices before they’re onboarded
Initiate visa applications with just a few clicks in Multiplier

Multiplier limitations

Some users have reported issues with recurring payments and late payments
Limited customization options. For example, you can’t submit expenses in foreign currencies

Multiplier pricing

Employer of Record: Starts at $400/month
Independent Contractors: Starts at $40/month
Global Payroll: Custom pricing

Multiplier ratings and reviews

G2: 4.7/5 (700+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.7/5 (40+ reviews)

6. Papaya Global: Best for enterprises with large workforces that need Agent-of-Record services

Papaya Global is specifically designed for companies in the utilities and maritime sectors with thousands of employees, many of whom may be overseas. As such, it also employs legal consultants in local regions to ensure its contracts comply with local laws and regulations.

One of the biggest challenges for these industries is ensuring timely and accurate payroll across borders. Papaya Global addresses this head-on by supporting cross-border direct deposits and local payment gateways.

Papaya Global is also one of the few HR solutions I have found with AI capabilities. Its AI Compliance monitoring solution can help flag issues, optimize payment routing, and forecast future payments.

Another cool feature is ‘land date commitment’, which guarantees employees will receive their funds on time.

Papaya Global’s best features

Deposit payments directly into employee accounts in local countries without being routed through different banks
Get comprehensive reports on employee leave trends, financial forecasts, and diversity metrics
Pay new employees and contractors within two days of onboarding them onto the platform

Papaya Global limitations

Limited invoice customization options
Bulk-updating employee data is cumbersome, and you need to contact their customer support team to do it

Papaya Global pricing

Payroll Plus
- Grow Global: Starts from $25/employee per month
- Scale Global: Starts from $20/employee per month
- Enterprise Global: Starts from $15/employee per month
Contractor Payments and Management: $30/contractor per month
Employer of Record (EOR): Starts from $599/employee per month
Global Workforce Payments: Starts from $2.5/transaction
Agent of Record (AOR): Starts from $200/contractor per month

Papaya Global ratings and reviews

G2: 4.5/5 (31+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.4/5 (30+ reviews)

7. Patriot Payroll: Best for small and mid-sized businesses with under 500 employees

Designed for businesses with basic HR needs like payroll, attendance, and expense management, Patriot Payroll is a no-frills platform that prioritizes ease of use.

I found it particularly helpful for small HR teams. Features like email notifications to nudge employees about timesheets and bulk-approval capabilities for timesheets and expenses can be big time-savers for one or two-person HR teams.

The best feature, though, is time card management. Employees can create and share their timesheets with the payroll team, approve time summaries, and calculate overtime fees automatically. You can also create custom overtime policies for different employee types, such as temporary, intern, and permanent ones.

Patriot Payroll’s best features

Streamline admin tasks by allowing employees to update their payment information and managers to update compensation packages and time summaries
Manage payroll, attendance, and billable hours from one platform
Get detailed reports on your financial health with AR aging reports, payment histories, and balance sheets

Patriot Payroll limitations

Setting different payment cycles for employees (bi-weekly, monthly, etc.) is a manual process that has to be done on an individual basis
If you have W2 employees, you’ll have to pay the ‘per-employee’ fee for an entire year, even if the employee quits midway

Patriot Payroll pricing

Basic Payroll: $17 (flat fee) + $4 per employee/contractor per month
Full-Service Payroll: $37 (flat fee) + $4 per employee/contractor per month

Patriot Payroll ratings and reviews

G2: 4.8/5 (500+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.8/5 (3400+ reviews)

8. Deel: Best for global enterprises with complex HR operations and compliance requirements

Deel is a one-stop people platform for large companies with global expansion plans. You can create localized contracts, file taxes in different regions, and run global background checks. This makes Deel a great option for enterprises with strict compliance-related processes. Better still, Deel promises a five-day onboarding timeframe for Malta—so it’s a great option for enterprises looking to start quickly.

Deel is compliant with Maltese local regulations and handles tax out of the box. It also partners with two insurance providers in Malta—Unisure and Allianz—making it easier for you to provide your employees with health insurance.

While I haven’t directly managed payroll through Deel, I did explore its features during my evaluation. One feature that caught my eye was the Deel Slack plugin. With this, you can create automated Slack workflows from Deel, such as sharing announcements, tracking engagement, and setting up weekly check-ins. Cool, right?

However, this also means that Deel is one of the more expensive payroll management and EOR services on the market.

Deel best features

Stay compliant with the Maltese local regulations regarding minimum wages, overtime, holidays, and tax
Manage all payroll activities—payslips, approvals, invoices, and more—from one single platform
Automate software access by giving employees access to the tools they require as soon as they’re onboarded
Keep track of local labor law updates in real time and avoid costly fines

Deel limitations

Deel provides only limited reporting features
The mobile app is only available in some countries
Employees and contractors can’t keep their funds in the Deel platform for more than 30 days

Deel pricing

Deel Contractor management: $49/month
Deel EOR: $599/month
Deel Payroll: $29/employee per month
Deel US Payroll: $19/employee per month
Deel US PEO: $79/employee per month
Deel HR: Free
Deel Engage: $20/employee per month

Deel ratings and reviews

G2: 4.8/5 (3300+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.7/5 (700+ reviews)

9. OnPay: Best for accounting firms that require all-in-one people ops software

OnPay is built for companies that usually work on-premises—particularly accountants and other mid-sized businesses such as law firms, dentists, restaurants, and non-profits.

One feature that I found impressive in OnPay—mainly because it reduces manual work—is the automated sync between compensation packages and payroll.

Say you’re onboarding a new employee or adjusting to an existing staff member’s benefits—any changes you make in the HR module automatically update within payroll. This can save HR teams a significant amount of time and ensure accuracy across the board.

If you’re an accounting firm that manages payroll for different companies, OnPay can be a great choice. It allows you to manage all your clients from one place and delegate work to different people on your team or your client’s team.

OnPay best features

Give employees the option to split their payments into multiple bank accounts
Create a public org chart with employee details and reporting hierarchies
Set up custom onboarding workflows to ensure each new hire has a personalized experience based on their career level and department

OnPay limitations

OnPay doesn’t provide a mobile app for Android users
You can only set up payroll for one month at a time
OnPay has a ‘DIY’ mindset and doesn’t provide much onboarding support

OnPay pricing

Total fee: $40/month (base) + $6/person per month

OnPay ratings and reviews

G2: 4.8/5 (200+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.8/5 (400+ reviews)

10. Oyster HR: Best for remote companies looking for an Employer-of-Record service

Having worked with numerous remote teams, I can confidently say Oyster HR is a great fit for companies looking to build and manage a distributed workforce.

Oyster HR is primarily an Employer of Record (EOR) service for remote companies and distributed teams. It supports over 180 countries (including Malta) and offers full-stack people operations management, including payroll, benefits packages, and equity management. This means their team will handle the legal processes, such as sending a new hire’s FS4 report to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD).

I also found its employee portal to be pretty strong. It was easy to use with a simple, intuitive UI and handled all the basic tasks such as marking attendance, filing reimbursements, and accessing contracts payslips.

A great feature of Oyster HR is its Talent Network, which allows you to outsource your hiring to its partners in local regions. It’s a hassle-free way to find great talent!

Oyster HR’s best features

Transition contractors into full-timers with just a few clicks
Run global payroll operations without worrying about local compliances and regulations
Create comprehensive compensation packages considering benefits, equity, and even salary gaps to retain top talent

Oyster HR limitations

Its lack of HRIS platform integrations means you might find data silos between payroll details and basic employee data
Some users have reported that Oyster HR’s customer support team is slow to respond

Oyster HR pricing

Contractor: $29/contractor per month (EUR 27/contractor per month)
Global Payroll: $50/employee per month (EUR 47/contractor per month)
Employer of Record: $699/month (EUR 649 per month)
Scale: Custom pricing

Oyster HR ratings and reviews

G2: 4.4/5 (400+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.5/5 (60+ reviews)

Improve Your People Ops with ClickUp

HR platforms can enhance administrative tasks and improve overall communication and collaboration. They can also free up your HR team’s bandwidth to help them redirect focus on other important tasks, such as employee well-being and creating a positive work environment.

But simply choosing any HR tech platform won’t do. Selecting the right tools requires you to know your specific needs and team dynamics. It’s also important to choose platforms that can help you with multiple functions so you don’t spend your time juggling different tools.

Here’s where ClickUp comes in—its all-in-one project, communication, and document management solution (along with free HR templates and AI capabilities) allows you to manage most of your people experience operations from a single place.

Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.

Contact Sales