Employer in Mali

The Code du Travail generally applies to private-sector employers in Mali regardless of company size. It does not cover fonctionnaires, judges, or the armed forces. Public contract staff and public administrative establishments (EPAs) may require a separate check for Code du Travail coverage. Regional responsibility normally follows the place where the work is performed, through the relevant Direction régionale or Service subrégional du Travail and the Inspecteur du Travail. An employer registers with INPS from the beginning of business activity and registers each employee at hiring. The employer obtains an employer number and keeps bulletins d'embauche. Each establishment normally keeps a registre d'employeur at the workplace in three sections covering personnel, contracts, and work, remuneration, and leave. The register can contain employment details, entries and departures, NINA, INPS number, nationality, category, pay, leave, and permits for foreign workers. Employers generally keep a separate register for each establishment. An employer with fewer than 10 employees and several establishments no more than 20 kilometres apart may use one shared register. The register can receive official visas, notices, reminders, and inspection notes. Recruitment can use ANPE, the public employment service, which collects vacancies, matches applicants, provides guidance, and supports pre-insertion and insertion. Direct advertising, internal human-resources recruitment, and local recruitment agencies are also documented pathways. No exclusive ANPE recruitment requirement has been established. Family labour, individual businesses, and direct recruitment are common in the informal economy, but informality does not automatically remove formal duties where the Code du Travail applies. A fixed-term contract, called a CDD, must be written. Its normal maximum duration is two years, and it is generally limited to two renewals. A CDD should not fill a permanently recurring normal position. A contract lasting more than three months must be filed with the Inspecteur du Travail before work begins. Arrêté 2024-4363 identifies exceptions for areas including construction and public works, humanitarian work, social and health services, audiovisual work, surveys, and mining exploration or installation. A trial period must be written and may last up to six months. For apprenticeship arrangements, ANPE examines the outcome after training, and the employer pays a social contribution of 2% of the training allowance. Hiring a foreign worker requires a work permit from the Direction nationale du Travail. The employer submits the application with a 200 FCFA stamp, a four-copy contract, a medical examination, two photographs, proof of legal stay, and a reasoned report explaining the employer's need and the worker's qualifications. The employer must explain why national recruitment or qualifications do not meet the need. The fee for a CDD is recorded as 30% for remuneration below 100,000 FCFA, 35% from 100,001 to 500,000 FCFA, 40% from 500,001 to 1,000,000 FCFA, and 45% above 1,000,000 FCFA; the exact tariff should be checked when filing. For a CDI, an indefinite-term contract, the fee is 1.5 months of gross pay. Unauthorised employment can trigger a fee five times the normal amount. Renewal should be requested at least one month before expiry. The usual response period is 15 days and can extend to one month. A permit can last up to two years, including renewals during the first two years of permanent residence, and it is tied to one employer. The employer also submits the annual list of foreign personnel by 31 December. The employer's core duties include providing the employment contract, paying wages, maintaining records, respecting working time and leave, applying internal rules and collective agreements where applicable, and treating workers equally. Discrimination based on race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, nationality, social origin, disability, or HIV/AIDS is prohibited. Protection also applies against dismissal connected with pregnancy or maternity, a work accident or illness, and trade-union activity. Maternity leave lasts 14 weeks. A dismissal letter must be written and state the reason. Unless a collective rule provides otherwise, notice is eight days for daily or weekly-paid workers, one month for monthly-paid workers, two months for supervisory staff, and three months for cadres or senior managers. INPS holds the employer responsible for remitting social contributions. The employer withholds the employee share and pays it together with the employer share. Employer rates are 8% for family benefits, 3.4% for retirement, 2% for invalidity and death, 3.5% for AMO, 1% to 4% for ATMP, and 1% for the ANPE tax, giving a combined employer rate of 18.9% to 21.9%. The employee rate is 3.6% for retirement plus 3.06% for AMO, or 6.66%. The combined rate is therefore 25.56% to 28.56%, with a recorded total of 26.56% for occasional workers. The calculation has no ceiling and includes benefits in kind and indemnities, but excludes reimbursement of expenses. Payment and reporting are due by the 15th: monthly for employers with more than nine employees and quarterly for employers with fewer than ten. Employers with more than 100 employees may also have an annual statement due in January. The INPS page lists the SMIG, the minimum guaranteed interprofessional wage, at 28,460 FCFA; verify the current figure before payroll processing. CANAM administers AMO, the mandatory health-insurance component. Management work includes personnel planning, payroll and leave administration, training, internal rules, performance management, and organisational control. Larger employers are more likely to have formal human-resources functions, while owners or family members often manage very small businesses. CNPM represents employers and supports employer training, collective bargaining, and social dialogue. Worker representation can include trade unions, a comité syndical, délégués du personnel, and a comité d'hygiène et de sécurité. Délégués du personnel can raise individual and collective complaints, monitor agreements, wages, and safety, and contact the Inspecteur du Travail. Dismissal of a protected representative requires the Inspector's authorisation; the response period is 15 days, or up to 30 days where expert examination is needed. Breach can result in invalidity of the dismissal and reinstatement. UNTM and CSTM are worker-side organisations in the tripartite system. Branch agreements exist in areas such as press, construction, security, food, health, and Catholic education. Every company or establishment must provide a medical or sanitary service suited to its work. The employer is responsible for hygiene and safety. The Inspecteur du Travail can issue a written mise en demeure and can order work to stop when an immediate danger exists. The employer must report a workplace accident or occupational disease within 48 hours. A comité d'hygiène et de sécurité is required in industry from 50 employees and in other activities from 100 employees; the Inspector can require one below the threshold where the risk justifies it. An individual employment dispute can move from internal discussion to conciliation before the Inspecteur du Travail and then to the Tribunal du Travail. A collective dispute normally proceeds through negotiation and conciliation, with arbitration possible where the applicable procedure permits it. The employer should preserve the register, written complaints, notices, and procès-verbaux because these documents record the steps taken. Costs depend on advice and court proceedings; no single fixed fee applies to every dispute. A substantial contractual change that the employee rejects can make the resulting termination attributable to the employer and can trigger the dismissal procedure. Before an economic dismissal, the employer should examine alternatives such as reduced hours or shifts, part-time work, temporary technical or economic unemployment, transfer, or changes to bonuses and benefits. If the parties agree, they record the arrangement in a protocole submitted to the Inspecteur du Travail. If they do not agree, a procès-verbal is sent to the Inspector immediately. For economic dismissal, voluntary departures are considered first, followed by professional aptitude and family responsibilities; where candidates are otherwise equal, older employees are retained and family allowances connected with seniority are considered under the applicable rules. Representatives must be consulted, with a meeting within eight days, and the Inspector reviews the measure within 15 days. A dismissed worker has priority for re-hiring for two years. Temporary technical or economic unemployment is initiated by the employer after consulting délégués du personnel or the comité syndical and informing the Directeur régional du Travail in advance. It normally lasts no more than three months; a severe health crisis can extend the total period to six months. During the measure, the employer generally cannot make new hires or require overtime from the remaining staff, although unaffected sectors are excluded from the hiring restriction. The period counts toward seniority. If the employer ends the contract after the authorised period or the worker rejects the stated conditions, the resulting breach can be attributed to the employer.