Employment law
Retirement: At what age does an employee retire, and what payment is due?
At Imprimerie Kénédougou, Mariam, a press operator, turns 58. She has 24 years’ service. The same month, Oumar, the workshop manager, turns 60 and asks to stay two more years. The manager hesitates: should he keep her, can he keep him, and how much must he pay? The answer lies in two articles of the Labour Code and a few INPS rules.
1. What exactly are we talking about?
Imprimerie Kénédougou is a fictitious company with 27 employees in Sikasso: its name, Mariam’s and Oumar’s, and their situation are used purely as an example.
Retirement brings together two separate things. On one side, the end of the employment contract at the age set by the Labour Code: that is the employer’s business. On the other, the pension paid by the National Social Security Institute (INPS), under the Social Security Code (SSC): that is the employee’s business, with the employer’s support.
Why a legal age? To organise workforce renewal and guarantee employees a predictable exit, with a payment and a pension. Law No. 2019-025 of 5 July 2019 raised these ages for employees covered by the Labour Code. See Mali has just raised the retirement age for employees covered by the Labour Code.
“The Code sets the age the contract ends. The INPS sets the age the pension starts.”
2. The legal age: 58 or 60 depending on category
In the private sector, the retirement age is 60 for category A or equivalent, and 58 for categories B, C, D and E (Labour Code, article L.60). The same article sets other ages for public establishments and for contract staff of the State and local authorities.
The employment relationship may continue by mutual agreement, up to 62 at most for category A and 60 for categories B to E (article L.60).
| Private sector | Retirement age | Possible extension by mutual agreement |
|---|---|---|
| Category A or equivalent | 60 | Up to 62 at most |
| Categories B, C, D, E | 58 | Up to 60 at most |
Mariam, in category B, therefore reaches retirement age at 58; she may continue until 60 if both she and the employer want to. Oumar, in category A, may stay until 62, not beyond, provided the employer agrees.
The most common mistake
Letting an employee carry on “tacitly” after the legal age. An extension is an agreement: without anything in writing, no one knows how long it runs or whether it was intended, and the ceiling of 62 or 60 still cannot be crossed.
What you need to do
- Keep each employee’s date of birth and category up to date.
- Sign a dated amendment for any extension, stating its end date.
- Never extend beyond 62 (category A) or 60 (categories B to E).
3. Leaving earlier: what the Code and the INPS provide
A private-sector employee may apply to draw their retirement pension from 57 in category A and from 55 in the other categories. Leaving on their own initiative is not a resignation (Labour Code, article L.60 bis): it gives entitlement to the retirement payment.
On the INPS side, a pension requires at least thirteen years of salaried work with contributions paid (Social Security Code, article 143). The age for drawing the pension is 58; between 53 and 55, the employee may apply for an early pension reduced by 5% per year of anticipation; from the age of 55, the early pension is not reduced (Social Security Code, article 144). An employee certified medically unfit may leave from 53 without reduction (article 145).
Fewer than thirteen years of contributions? An employee aged at least 53 who stops all salaried work with at least six years of insurance receives a flat-rate allowance, not a pension (article 147). For details of pensions, see Retirement: early pension without reduction.
The most common mistake
Treating the departure of a 56-year-old category C employee as a resignation. The Code rules this out: this departure gives entitlement to the retirement payment, not merely the end of contract of someone who resigns.
What you need to do
- Check the employee’s INPS contribution record with them before any departure plan.
- Accept, without recharacterising it, an early departure requested from 57 or 55.
- Refer the employee to the INPS to calculate their pension before the leaving date.
4. The retirement payment
An employee who stops work for good to draw their pension receives neither severance pay nor the long-service payment. They receive a retirement payment, calculated on the same basis and under the same conditions as severance pay (Labour Code, article L.55).
In practice: at least one year’s continuous service is required; the average monthly pay over the last twelve months is taken, excluding reimbursed expenses; 20% per year is applied for the first five years, 25% from the sixth to the tenth, 30% beyond, taking part-years into account (Labour Code, article L.53). A collective agreement or establishment agreement may provide for more favourable rates.
Example. Mariam leaves at 58 with 24 years’ service; average monthly pay over the last twelve months: 250,000 XOF:
First five years: 250,000 × 20% × 5 = 250,000 XOF
6th to 10th year: 250,000 × 25% × 5 = 312,500 XOF
Beyond the 10th year (14 years): 250,000 × 30% × 14 = 1,050,000 XOF
Retirement payment: 250,000 + 312,500 + 1,050,000 = 1,612,500 XOF
Why the same formula as for dismissal? So that seniority is recognised in the same way, whether the departure comes from the employer or the employee. The payment is exempt from salary tax up to the statutory amount: see Is severance pay taxable?
The most common mistake
Calculating the payment on basic salary alone. The base is the average pay over the last twelve months, bonuses included, with only reimbursed expenses excluded.
What you need to do
- Calculate the payment on the average of the last twelve months, bonuses included.
- Check whether the collective agreement provides for more favourable rates.
- Pay it with the final settlement, when the employee leaves.
5. Organising the departure
The pension does not start by itself. The employee applies to the INPS, directly or through their last employer, who forwards the application within a period that may not exceed six months. The application includes proof that work has stopped and an undertaking not to resume salaried work (Social Security Code, article 155).
Timing matters: if the application reaches the INPS within six months of stopping work, the pension takes effect on the first day of the month after work stopped; beyond that, it only runs from the month after the application is received (article 146).
The Labour Code sets no specific notice for retirement. The prudent course is to inform the employee in writing, at least with the length of their notice period, and to check what the collective agreement provides. On departure, the employer hands over the certificate of employment (article L.61).
The most common mistake
Rehiring the retiree the following month, as an employee, to “finish a job”. Their pension rests on the undertaking not to resume salaried work (article 155): this hire puts the pension at risk.
What you need to do
- Notify the employee in writing several months before the leaving date.
- Prepare the pension file with them and forward it promptly to the INPS.
- Hand over the certificate of employment, the payment and the final settlement on the day they leave.
A closer look: ages and rules imported from France
French articles circulate widely: a legal age of 62 or 64, a “voluntary departure” payment lower than the one for “compulsory retirement”, combining work and pension. None of these rules applies in Mali. The age is 58 or 60 depending on category; the payment is single and follows the severance formula, whether the initiative comes from the employer or the employee; and the INPS pension requires an undertaking not to resume salaried work.
For an overview, see Retirement of employees in Mali. If the employee dies before leaving, see Death of an employee: what the employer owes the family.
Key takeaways in 6 points
- Remember the private-sector legal age: 60 in category A, 58 in categories B to E.
- Put any extension in writing, without going beyond 62 or 60.
- Accept a departure requested from 57 or 55: it is not a resignation.
- Pay a retirement payment calculated like severance pay, on the average of the last twelve months.
- Forward the pension application to the INPS promptly, within six months of stopping work.
- Do not rehire a retiree as an employee: their pension depends on it.