Employment law
Lies on a CV: when and how to dismiss in Mali
Fourteen months after he was hired, the new works supervisor still cannot read a site schedule. Yet his CV claimed five years as a site manager with a competitor; a single phone call reveals he never worked there. Can you dismiss him, on what grounds, and what will a mistake cost you?
To follow the rule step by step, let us take Sahel Bâtiment SARL, a 45-employee construction company based in Bamako. It hired Ibrahim as a works supervisor, at supervisory staff level, for a gross salary of 600,000 XOF a month. The company and employee names are fictitious and are used for illustration only.
1. What exactly are we talking about?
Lying on a CV means telling an employer you hold a degree, experience or position that you do not have. The lie may appear in the CV, in the cover letter or in answers given at interview.
The Malian Labour Code has no article on CVs. The question is therefore settled by the general rules on dismissal. To end an open-ended contract, you must have a legitimate reason and be able to prove it (Labour Code, article L.51).
A legitimate reason is a real and accurate reason for ending the contract. The judge reviews it by looking into the causes and circumstances of the termination. A dismissal without a legitimate reason, or based on inaccurate grounds, is wrongful.
Not all lies carry the same weight
For a lie to amount to a legitimate reason, you will have to show that it influenced your decision to hire. This is called a decisive lie: without it, you would not have hired the person, or not for that position.
| Situation | Example at Sahel Bâtiment | Can it justify dismissal? |
|---|---|---|
| Embellished CV | “Excellent command of Excel” for basic spreadsheet use | Hardly: the job did not depend on it |
| Lie about a job requirement | Five invented years as site manager, when the job ad required at least three | Yes, if proven and if the requirement was written down before hiring |
| False document | Forged certificate of employment or courtesy attestation | Yes, and using it may also be an offence (article L.318) |
| Silence on a prohibited question | Refusal to state religion or union membership | No: this is not a lie, the question itself was unlawful |
An embellished CV is not a ground for dismissal. A lie that decided the hiring can be.
2. The job interview: what you may ask, and what you may not
At Sahel Bâtiment, Ibrahim’s interview lasted twenty minutes. He was asked about his home region and whether he belonged to a union, but nobody checked his previous sites. That is exactly the opposite of what should be done.
You may question candidates on anything relating to the qualifications required for the job: degrees, experience, sites completed, command of a tool. The Code states that distinctions based on these qualifications are not discrimination (Labour Code, article L.4).
Discrimination is any distinction, exclusion or preference that destroys or impairs equal opportunity in employment. You may not base your choice on race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction, social origin, invalidity, disability or HIV status (article L.4).
You are also prohibited from taking union membership or activity into account when deciding to hire (article L.257). These rules protect equal opportunity: the job should go to the most competent candidate, not the best connected.
The most common mistake
Many articles state that questions must have “a direct and necessary link with the job” and that candidates need not answer any others. This wording comes from the French Labour Code. The Malian text does not contain it: it reasons in terms of prohibited discrimination. The practical result is similar, but in Mali it is article L.4 that you should cite.
What the mistake costs: hiring decided on the basis of union membership exposes the employer to a fine of 50,000 to 250,000 XOF and imprisonment of 1 to 4 months, or either of these penalties (article L.329).
What you need to do
- Draw up a job description listing the required degrees and experience before publishing the ad.
- Prepare an interview grid focused on these requirements, then file it in the employee’s record.
- Avoid any question on religion, origin, opinions, disability, HIV status or union involvement.
3. Check before it is too late
The certificate of employment: the document to ask for
At the end of every contract, the employer must give the worker a certificate of employment. This document states only the start date, the end date, the nature and dates of the positions held, and the job category (Labour Code, article L.61). It is the simplest tool for checking claimed experience.
In Ibrahim’s case, it would have been enough to ask for the certificate from his alleged previous employer. Its absence, or a certificate that did not mention the site manager position, would have raised the alarm before signing.
Watch out for the reverse situation. When another employer asks you about a former employee, you may not provide biased or false information, or you may be ordered to pay damages (article L.61). Damages are a sum the judge orders you to pay to compensate for the harm caused.
The probationary period, your safety net
The probationary period is the initial phase of the contract during which either party may end it freely. It must be provided for in writing. Its length is in principle equal to the notice period, that is, the time between the announcement of the termination and actual departure, but it may be longer, up to a maximum of six months including renewal (article L.30).
During probation, the contract may be ended without notice or compensation, and the dismissal rules do not apply, unless otherwise agreed (article L.33). Had Sahel Bâtiment tested Ibrahim on a real site during his two-month probation, it could have ended the contract at no cost.
What you check during probation, you will not have to argue in court.
What you need to do
- Require certificates of employment from the employers listed on the CV, and copies of degrees.
- Provide in writing for a probationary period suited to the job.
- During probation, give the employee a task that genuinely tests the claimed experience.
4. Proving that the lie was decisive
If the dismissal is challenged, you must prove the legitimate reason for it (article L.51). Your word will not be enough: the judge will look into the causes and circumstances of the termination.
You must therefore prove two things. First, that the information was false. Second, that it counted in your decision to hire.
What you must be able to produce
| What must be proven | Useful documents |
|---|---|
| The information was false | Certificate of employment or attestation from the employer named, written reply from the institution said to have awarded the degree |
| The requirement existed before hiring | Published job ad, dated job description |
| It weighed in your choice | Interview grid, recruitment report, reference to the experience in the contract |
The most common mistake
Believing that a note written after the lie was discovered will be enough. A document written after the event carries little weight. What protects you is a dated document, written before hiring, that links the job requirement to the choice of candidate.
At Sahel Bâtiment, the ad required “at least three years as a site manager” and the interview grid reads: “site experience: 5 years with a competitor, decisive point”. The file holds up.
What you did not write down before hiring, you will struggle to prove afterwards.
What you need to do
- Gather written proof that the information was false: certificate, attestation, reply from the school.
- Retrieve the dated job ad, job description and interview grid.
- Check that the lie concerns a job requirement, not a detail.
5. Gross misconduct, not “serious misconduct”: what the classification changes
The Malian Labour Code recognises only one type of misconduct that deprives the employee of notice and severance pay: gross misconduct (faute lourde). “Serious misconduct” (faute grave), found in many articles, comes from French law.
Gross misconduct is misconduct serious enough to justify immediate termination of the contract. The Code does not define it and leaves its assessment to the judge. If it is upheld, the employee loses notice (Labour Code, article L.41) and severance pay, which is due after one year of service (Labour Code, article L.53).
Deliberate schemes, such as a forged certificate or a position invented at a competitor to land the job, may be classified as gross misconduct. But the classification is never guaranteed in advance: the judge decides. To place the different levels of misconduct, see our article Misconduct in the company.
What it costs if the judge rejects gross misconduct
If the judge finds that the lie justified dismissal, but not gross misconduct, you must pay notice and severance pay. The calculation method is set out in our article Severance pay.
Example. Ibrahim is supervisory staff, with 14 months of service and average monthly pay of 600,000 XOF gross. In the absence of a collective agreement setting a different period, his notice is 2 months (article L.41).
Payment in lieu of notice: 600,000 × 2 = 1,200,000 XOF
Severance pay: 600,000 × 20% × 14/12 = 140,000 XOF
Total payable: 1,200,000 + 140,000 = 1,340,000 XOF
If the judge also finds there was no legitimate reason, the dismissal becomes wrongful. Damages are then added, set in particular according to the employee’s length of service and age (article L.51). During probation, the same termination would have cost 0 XOF (article L.33).
What you need to do
- Reserve gross misconduct for deliberate and proven schemes.
- Before deciding, calculate the notice and severance pay due if gross misconduct is rejected.
6. The procedure: four steps not to skip
A solid reason is not enough. The Code imposes a procedure for any dismissal of an employee on an open-ended contract.
- Inform the competent labour inspector by registered letter, stating the identity of the employee, that of the employer and the reason for dismissal. The inspector has fifteen days to give an opinion (Labour Code, article L.40).
- Notify the employee of the dismissal in writing, stating the reason (articles L.41 and L.43).
- If the employee is a staff delegate, full or alternate, first obtain the labour inspector’s authorisation. Without it, the dismissal is null and void and the delegate is reinstated (article L.277).
- Hand over the certificate of employment on departure (article L.61) and pay the sums due as soon as service ends (article L.103).
What a procedural slip costs
If the dismissal is justified but you did not give written notice of termination, or did not state the reason, the judge awards the employee compensation of up to one month’s gross salary, or 600,000 XOF for Ibrahim (article L.52).
Another point specific to Mali: an employee who disputes the reason may bring the case before the labour court, and the Code states that this appeal suspends the employer’s decision (article L.40). A solid file from the outset is therefore essential.
What you need to do
- Inform the labour inspector by registered letter as soon as you consider dismissal.
- Write a dismissal letter describing the precise lie and its link with the job.
- Check the employee’s status (delegate, election candidate) before taking any step.
A closer look: the false document, a criminal offence
The Labour Code punishes with a fine of 50,000 to 300,000 XOF and imprisonment of 1 to 6 months, or either of these penalties, any person who gets hired using a fictitious contract or a worker’s record book containing inaccurate information (article L.318).
The same penalty applies to a worker who knowingly uses a false attestation on the length or conditions of past work, and to the employer who issued it. For a repeat offence, the fine may reach 500,000 XOF. Refusing courtesy attestations therefore also protects you.
Key takeaways in 6 points
- Base the dismissal on a legitimate reason: a lie that decided the hiring, not a merely embellished CV.
- Limit the interview to the required qualifications and ban any discriminatory question.
- Check certificates of employment and test the employee during probation, when termination costs nothing.
- Keep dated documents from before hiring: job ad, job description, interview grid.
- Speak of gross misconduct, never “serious misconduct”, bearing in mind that the judge has the final word.
- Follow the procedure: registered letter to the inspector, written notice stating the reason, prior authorisation for a delegate.