Employment law
The standard fixed-term contract (CDD)
A spike in orders, a seasonal campaign, an assignment lasting a few months: the business needs hands, but not forever. The standard fixed-term contract answers exactly that need. What it demands in return is strict formality and strict ceilings, because here, going over the limit does not earn a fine, it turns the contract into an open-ended one.
1. What exactly are we talking about?
The standard fixed-term contract is the one that rests neither on replacing an absent employee nor on completing defined works, but on a temporary need of the business, a need the employer must be able to evidence.
What sets it apart from the other two
| Aspect | Replacement contract | Defined-works contract | Standard fixed-term contract |
|---|---|---|---|
| What justifies it | The absence of a named worker | Works whose length cannot be assessed in advance | A temporary business need |
| What sets the end | The return of the replaced worker | Completion of the works | A date, or a minimum duration |
| Two-year ceiling | Yes | No | Yes |
| Renewable | Yes, with no cap on number | No | Yes, twice |
The replacement contract fills an absence. The defined-works contract follows a site. The standard contract follows a workload.
Why the distinction matters
It governs three things: which clauses must appear in the contract, how many renewals are possible, and whether the end-of-contract payment is owed. Picking the wrong box means applying the wrong regime.
2. When may it be used?
The three admitted grounds
- Temporary increase in activity: an exceptional order, a production peak. The worker is hired as additional headcount, and the increase must be provable: purchase order, contract award, activity records.
- Seasonal employment: an agricultural, commercial, industrial or craft campaign that returns every year, independently of the employer's will.
- Assignment defined in time: a short engagement whose purpose exhausts itself.
The ground that never holds
Whatever the wording chosen, a fixed-term contract may not have as its object the permanent filling of a job tied to the normal, ongoing activity of the business (Labour Code, article L.22 (French)). And the penalty is not primarily financial: a contract that does not meet the definition of a fixed-term contract is an open-ended contract, with everything that follows: notice, severance pay, dismissal procedure.
Example. A distribution company hires a warehouse clerk on a 12-month contract for "increased activity", although the position has existed for three years and has never stood empty. The ground does not hold: the job belongs to the normal, ongoing activity. In a dispute, the contract will be read as open-ended from day one.
A fixed-term contract is justified by the nature of the need, not by the employer's preference.
The six-month lock after economic redundancies
Following redundancies on economic grounds, a company may no longer use fixed-term contracts on the positions that were cut for six months (Labour Code, article L.23 (French)). There is one way out only: a contract of no more than three months, non-renewable.
3. Setting the end: a date or an event
| Aspect | Precise term | Imprecise term |
|---|---|---|
| What the contract states | An end date | A future and certain event whose date is unknown |
| Example | "from 1 March to 31 August 2026" | "until Ms X returns from maternity leave" |
| Clause to add | Where applicable, a clause postponing the term | The minimum duration for which the contract is concluded |
An imprecise term is the only way to cover a situation whose end date is unknown. In return, the law requires a minimum duration: the worker must know how long they can count on.
4. The two ceilings: which one really protects?
Two limits frame the contract, and they do not operate in the same way (Labour Code, articles L.20 and L.21 (French)).
| Ceiling | What it limits | Who it applies to |
|---|---|---|
| 2 years | Total duration, renewals included | Every fixed-term contract except defined-works contracts |
| 2 renewals | The number of extensions with the same company. The initial contract does not count | The general case: five categories are exempt |
Three cases that make the rule visible
- 8 + 8 + 8 months = 24 months and 2 renewals: compliant, but both limits are now reached.
- 12 + 8 + 8 months = 28 months: duration exceeded, so the contract is open-ended.
- 6 + 6 + 6 + 4 months = 22 months but 3 renewals: number exceeded, so the contract is open-ended, even though the total stays under two years.
The five categories exempt from the renewal count
- Workers hired by the hour or by the day, for an occupation not exceeding one day;
- Seasonal workers, hired for the length of a campaign;
- Workers hired as additional headcount to absorb an increase in activity;
- Workers hired to temporarily replace an employee whose contract is lawfully suspended;
- Workers in sectors where the custom is not to use open-ended contracts.
In other words, the two most common grounds for a standard fixed-term contract, increased activity and seasonal work, are not counted in renewals. The two-year ceiling, however, does not move.
The fifteen sectors covered by the fifth category
That last category is not left to the company's judgement: the list of sectors is set by ministerial order, and it was revised at the end of 2024. Currently covered:
| Sectors |
|---|
| Forestry operations · Ship repair · Removals · Live entertainment · Cultural activity · Broadcasting · News media · Holiday and leisure centres · Professional sport · Survey and polling activities · Building and public works · Social and health activities · Emergency relief and humanitarian activities · Mineral exploration · Mine development |
Three sectors were removed from the list in 2024: hotels and catering, education, and meat storage and warehousing. A company in any of those three can therefore no longer rely on this exemption, and falls back into the general case of two renewals. Worth checking if contract templates have not been reviewed since (order no. 1566/MEFPT-SG of 7 October 1996, article A.20, as amended by order no. 2024-4363/MTFPDS-SG of 27 December 2024).
It is not the number of contracts that protects the worker, it is the total duration.
What happens after the term
If the worker keeps working beyond the term and neither party objects, the contract becomes open-ended. No signature is needed for that: it is the continued performance that produces the effect.
5. Writing: the most sensitive point
A fixed-term contract is a written contract, and the penalty for the absence of writing is immediate: the contract is presumed to have been concluded for an indefinite period (Labour Code, article L.21 (French)). Writing is therefore not a matter of good practice, it is the condition of the contract's existence.
The mandatory clauses
They are set by decree n°96-178/P-RM of 13 June 1996, article D.20-1.
| Clause | In which case |
|---|---|
| A precise definition of the contract's object | Always |
| The job or position held | Always |
| The end date, and where applicable a postponement clause | Precise term |
| The minimum duration of the contract | Imprecise term |
| The name and grade of the replaced worker | Replacement |
| The length of the probationary period | Where probation is provided for |
Filing with the labour inspectorate
Every fixed-term contract longer than three months must be filed by the employer with the competent labour inspectorate before work begins. The formality happens upstream: once the worker is at their post, it is too late.
No writing, no fixed term. A verbal contract is an open-ended contract.
6. Probation: what is true and what is not
What the Malian Code allows
Contrary to a widespread belief, a fixed-term contract may include a probationary period. One condition only, but a firm one: it must be expressly set out in writing (Labour Code, article L.30 (French)). Its length is in principle equal to the notice period, and never exceeds six months, renewal included. During probation, either party may terminate without notice, without reasons and without compensation.
The most common error
The scale often quoted, "one day per week of contract, capped at two weeks below six months and one month above", belongs to French law. It has no Malian equivalent and cannot be relied on against anyone. What applies here is the contract itself, within the limits of the Labour Code and the sector's collective agreement.
The trap of continued service
If service continues after probation expires without probation having been renewed, the relationship becomes open-ended, and that open-ended contract takes effect from the first day of probation, not from its end.
7. Ending it early: three doors, not one more
Once probation is over, early termination is possible in three cases only (Labour Code, article L.25 (French)):
- Gross misconduct by the worker, assessed by the competent court;
- Agreement of the parties, recorded in writing;
- Force majeure, unforeseeable, irresistible, external to the parties.
The contract may itself set out further grounds for early termination. Absent such a clause, the three situations above govern, and a drop in activity is not among them.
What an irregular termination costs
Where the employer terminates outside these cases, the worker is entitled to damages equal to the pay they would have received until the term of the contract.
Example. An 18-month contract ended by the employer after 6 months, with no gross misconduct and no written agreement. Twelve months remain. On gross pay of XOF 250,000 per month: 12 × 250,000 = XOF 3,000,000.
A fixed-term contract is not broken, it is completed. Everything else is paid out to the term.
8. End of contract and the precarity payment
On reaching its term, the contract ends by itself: no notice, no dismissal letter. Where the relationship does not continue, the worker is entitled, as a supplement to pay, to an allowance compensating the insecurity of their position (Labour Code, article L.24 (French)).
The rate: check the collective agreement first
The rate is set by collective agreement. Only failing that does the statutory minimum apply: 2.5% of the total gross pay due over the whole life of the contract (decree n°96-178/P-RM of 13 June 1996, article D.24-1). The 2.5% is a floor, not a standard.
The calculation, in three lines
Gross monthly pay of XOF 200,000, contract of 12 months.
Total gross pay: 200,000 × 12 = XOF 2,400,000.
Minimum payment: 2,400,000 × 2.5% = XOF 60,000.
Who is entitled, who is not
| Situation | Payment owed? |
|---|---|
| Worker hired as additional headcount for an increase in activity | Yes |
| Seasonal worker | No |
| Worker hired for a temporary replacement | No |
| Worker hired by the hour or by the day, for one day at most | No |
| Worker in a sector where the custom is not to use open-ended contracts | No |
| Worker who turns down an open-ended contract on the same job at pay at least equal | No |
| Early termination on the worker's initiative, or caused by their gross misconduct | No |
The first line deserves attention: increased activity is the only one of the five categories exempt from the renewal count that keeps the payment.
9. A point worth clarifying
The renewal regime was rewritten by law no. 2017-021 of 12 June 2017 (French), amending article L.20 of the Labour Code. Two changes are worth keeping in mind.
First, the law states expressly that the initial contract does not count as a renewal. An employer therefore has three successive contracts in total, not two, a point practice commonly got wrong before 2017.
Second, it sets out the five categories of worker exempt from the renewal count. For the fifth, it refers to an order of the Minister for Labour designating the sectors concerned. That order, reproduced in section 4, is the one to consult, in its version in force: its latest revision, in December 2024, removed three sectors from the list.
Key takeaways
- The standard fixed-term contract answers a temporary need, where the replacement contract fills an absence and the defined-works contract follows a site.
- No writing, no fixed term: a verbal contract is presumed open-ended, and any contract longer than three months must be filed with the labour inspectorate before work begins.
- Two ceilings, but only one is universal: two years binds everyone, while the two-renewal limit lets five categories through, including seasonal work and increased activity.
- The fifth category covers fifteen listed sectors, three of which were removed in 2024.
- Crossing a ceiling brings no fine but reclassification as an open-ended contract, automatically, including through mere continued performance past the term.
- Early termination has only three doors: gross misconduct, written agreement, force majeure. Outside them, the employer pays the wages remaining until the term.
- At the term, the precarity payment is owed at the collective agreement's rate; 2.5% of total gross pay is only its statutory floor.