Disability allowance in Mali

January, the Imprimerie du Fleuve workshop. Oumar’s offset press has been idle for three weeks: at 47, he had a stroke one Sunday, at home. His right side no longer responds. The manager wants to know what the INPS will pay and what he himself owes in the meantime. He is looking for a “disability allowance”: the Code does not know it by that name.

Imprimerie du Fleuve and the people mentioned in this article are fictitious: they are used as examples only.

1. What exactly are we talking about?

Imprimerie du Fleuve employs 55 people in Bamako. Oumar has been running a press there for ten years, and has contributed to the National Social Security Institute (INPS) since he was hired. His stroke has nothing to do with work.

The Social Security Code does not provide for a “disability allowance”. It organises two separate forms of protection depending on the origin of the disability:

Origin of the disability	Condition	Benefit
Non-occupational illness or accident	At least 8 years of insurance	Disability pension (article 148)
Non-occupational illness or accident	Less than 8 years of insurance	No disability pension
Accident at work or occupational disease	No insurance period required	Permanent incapacity annuity (article 125)

Under the Code, a worker is disabled when, as a result of an illness or accident of non-occupational origin, they can no longer earn more than one third of what a worker with the same training earns from work. In other words, they have lost at least two thirds of their earning capacity. The disability pension is granted if they have completed at least eight years of insurance (Social Security Code, article 148).

The INPS translates this threshold into an incapacity rate of at least 66.66%, stated by the treating doctor on a medical certificate and assessed by the INPS medical adviser.

Why this rule? It replaces lost wages when illness strikes before retirement age, provided the employee has contributed long enough.

The most common mistake

Talking about an “allowance” and setting the switch to retirement at 50. The text in force refers to a disability pension, and replaces it with a retirement pension at 53 (article 150).

Less than eight years of insurance, no disability pension. At work, it is another scheme, with no minimum period.

2. The first months: the contract suspended, pay partly maintained

Before any pension, there is the contract. Absence due to a non-occupational illness certified by a doctor suspends the contract: it is not terminated, but work and, in part, pay stop. This suspension is limited to six months, extended until the date on which the employee is replaced (Labour Code, article L.34).

During this period, the employer compensates the employee (Labour Code, article L.37):

• during the first year of service: their salary for a period equal to the notice period;
• beyond the first year of service: in addition, half their salary for the month following that full-pay period.

Example. Oumar is paid monthly, XOF 180,000. His notice period is one month (article L.41) and he has more than one year of service.

First month, at full pay: XOF 180,000

Following month, at half pay: 180,000 × 50% = XOF 90,000

Compensation owed by the employer: 180,000 + 90,000 = XOF 270,000

On the INPS side, the disability pension takes effect on the date the injury is consolidated or the insured person’s condition stabilises. It may also be granted after six months of incapacity if, in the doctor’s opinion, it is expected to last at least another six months (article 149). Consolidation is the point at which the state of health no longer changes and the after-effects become lasting.

What you need to do

• Require the medical certificate that justifies the suspension of the contract.
• Pay the compensation under article L.37: full pay for the notice period, then half pay for one month beyond the first year.
• Help the employee prepare the pension application to the INPS as soon as the condition is consolidated.

3. Calculating the disability pension, step by step

The pension is calculated like the retirement pension, on the average monthly remuneration: the total earnings subject to contributions over the last eight years, divided by 96. It amounts to 26% of this average for 156 months of insurance (Social Security Code, article 156), i.e. 2% per year of insurance, the formula applied by the INPS.

The same article adds a rule specific to disability: the years between the date the pension takes effect and age 53 are treated as insurance periods, at the rate of six months per year. The INPS calls this the credited period: months not worked, but counted as contributed.

Example. Oumar is 47 when his pension takes effect, and has 120 months of insurance. Over his last eight years, he earned XOF 17,280,000 in wages subject to contributions.

Average monthly remuneration: 17,280,000 ÷ 96 = XOF 180,000

Years of disability until 53: 53 − 47 = 6 years, i.e. 6 × 6 = 36 months treated as insured

Period taken into account: 120 + 36 = 156 months, i.e. 13 years × 2% = 26%

Disability pension: 180,000 × 26% = XOF 46,800 per month

No pension may be calculated on an average remuneration lower than twice the SMIG, and the holder keeps family allowances as of right (article 156).

What an undeclared contribution costs

Every month not declared to the INPS is missing from the calculation. If two years of Oumar’s salary had not been declared, he would have only 96 months of insurance: below the eight-year threshold, no disability pension would be due. The INPS may also charge an employer behind on contributions with the benefits paid for the unpaid periods (article 213).

A month not declared is a month missing the day illness strikes.

4. A temporary pension that switches to retirement

The disability pension is granted on a temporary basis. It may be reviewed if the beneficiary recovers part of their capacities and can again carry out salaried work. At 53, it is withdrawn and replaced by a retirement pension without reduction (Social Security Code, article 150). If the holder dies, their survivors are entitled to a survivor’s pension (article 152).

Periods that count as worked

For the calculation of entitlements, the Code treats the following as normal periods of salaried activity (article 151):

• periods during which the employee received the daily allowance for an accident at work or occupational disease;
• certain periods of contract suspension under article L.34, including sickness absence limited to six months and extended until replacement.

Dismissal on grounds of disability: an order to follow

The INPS makes compliance with the dismissal procedure a condition of entitlement to the pension. The steps follow in this order:

1. the treating doctor issues a medical certificate of disability, subject to assessment by the INPS medical adviser;
2. the employer informs the labour inspector in writing, enclosing the medical certificate; the inspector has fifteen days to give an opinion (article L.40);
3. after the inspector’s written reply, the employer notifies the dismissal on grounds of disability in writing, stating the reason (article L.41);
4. the employee files the pension application with the INPS.

Skipping a step, for example dismissing before contacting the inspector, jeopardises the pension file and may leave Oumar without income once the compensation under article L.37 runs out.

What you need to do

• Track the end date of the contract suspension and document the need for a replacement.
• Inform the labour inspector in writing, enclosing the medical certificate, before any notice of dismissal.
• Tell the employee that the pension will switch to a retirement pension at 53.

5. A closer look: when the disability is work-related

If Oumar’s hand had been crushed by his press, he would fall under the accidents-at-work scheme. This scheme requires no insurance period. In the event of permanent incapacity, the victim receives an annuity: their annual salary multiplied by an adjusted incapacity rate. The part of the rate up to 50% is halved; the part above 50% is increased by half (Social Security Code, article 125).

Example. Incapacity rate of 70%, annual salary of XOF 2,160,000.

Part up to 50%: 50% ÷ 2 = 25%

Part above 50%: 20% × 1.5 = 30%

Rate applied: 25% + 30% = 55%

Annual annuity: 2,160,000 × 55% = XOF 1,188,000

The employer must also try to redeploy the victim to a suitable job. If this is not possible, dismissal is subject to the prior opinion of the labour inspector (article 112). See also our article Disability pension.

Key takeaways in 6 points

1. Speak of a disability pension, not an allowance: it is the only non-occupational disability benefit in the Code.
2. Check the eight years of insurance and the incapacity rate of at least 66.66%: below that, no disability pension is due.
3. Compensate the sick employee under article L.37, then follow the order certificate, inspector, dismissal, INPS application.
4. Calculate the pension at 2% per year of insurance, adding six credited months per year remaining until 53.
5. Use 53, not 50, as the age of switch to the retirement pension without reduction.
6. Treat work-related disability as an accident at work: annuity with no minimum period and a duty to redeploy.