Employment law
Disability retirement in Mali
Three mornings a week, Kalilou leaves the welding shop for his dialysis sessions. At 44, his kidneys have failed and the doctor is clear: he will not return to a welding job. The director of Ateliers Mécaniques du Niger wants to know what the INPS will pay, for how long, and what will happen when Kalilou reaches retirement age.
Ateliers Mécaniques du Niger and the people mentioned in this article are fictitious: they are used as examples only.
1. What exactly are we talking about?
Ateliers Mécaniques du Niger employs 70 people in Bamako. Kalilou has been a welder there for nine years and has contributed to the National Social Security Institute (INPS) since he was hired. His illness has nothing to do with his work.
“Disability retirement” is not a single benefit. It is a three-stage path that the Social Security Code organises for an employee who becomes disabled before retirement age:
| Stage | What happens | Text |
|---|---|---|
| Sick leave | The contract is suspended; the employer compensates the employee | Labour Code, L.34 and L.37 |
| Disability pension | The INPS pays a monthly pension, temporary and subject to review | Articles 148 to 150 |
| At 53 | The disability pension becomes a retirement pension without reduction | Article 150 |
A worker is disabled when, as a result of a non-occupational illness or accident, they can no longer earn more than one third of what a worker with the same training earns. The disability pension requires 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 and assessed by the INPS medical adviser.
Why this rule? It protects an employee whom illness removes from work years before retirement age, provided they have contributed long enough.
The most common mistake
Setting the switch to retirement at 50 and talking about a loss of “two thirds of physical capacities”. The text in force uses 53 and reasons in terms of earning capacity. Another confusion: an accident at work does not open this pension, but an accident-at-work annuity, with no minimum period.
Eight years for the disability pension, 53 for the switch to retirement.
2. The calculation: the missing years count for half
The disability pension is calculated like the retirement pension: 2% of average monthly remuneration per year of insurance. This average is total contributory pay over the last eight years, divided by 96 (Social Security Code, article 156).
The same article adds a rule specific to disability: the years between the date the pension takes effect and age 53 count as insurance periods, at the rate of six months per year. The INPS calls this the credited period: years not worked, but counted for half in the calculation.
Example. Kalilou’s pension takes effect at 44. He has nine years of insurance. Over his last eight years, he earned XOF 14,400,000 in wages subject to contributions.
Average monthly remuneration: 14,400,000 ÷ 96 = XOF 150,000
Credited period: (53 − 44) × 6 months = 54 months, i.e. 4.5 years
Period taken into account: 9 + 4.5 = 13.5 years
Rate: 13.5 × 2% = 27%
Disability pension: 150,000 × 27% = XOF 40,500 per month
The eight-year threshold: what two months cost
Drissa, a colleague of Kalilou, falls ill at 47 with seven years and ten months of insurance. He is two months short of eight years: no disability pension is due. At 53, if he has stopped all work, he can only claim the old-age allowance, a flat amount (article 147).
Example. Drissa’s average remuneration: XOF 150,000. Comparison between eight years of insurance and seven years and ten months.
With eight years: period taken into account 8 + (53 − 47) × 0.5 = 11 years, i.e. 22%
Disability pension with eight years: 150,000 × 22% = XOF 33,000 per month
With seven years and ten months: no pension from 47 to 53
Income lost from 47 to 53: 33,000 × 12 × 6 = XOF 2,376,000
Two months not declared when he was hired are enough to produce this result. It is one more reason to declare every employee from their first day.
What you need to do
- Check the exact insurance period of any seriously ill employee on their INPS statement.
- Reconstruct contributory pay over the last eight years to prepare the file.
- Declare every hire to the INPS without delay, so that every month worked counts.
3. At 53, the switch 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).
According to the INPS, this conversion is automatic: the disabled person’s retirement pension takes effect on their 53rd birthday, without a new calculation. For Kalilou, the XOF 40,500 therefore continues, under another name.
| Item | Before 53 | From 53 |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Disability pension | Retirement pension |
| Status | Temporary, subject to review | Permanent |
| Amount for Kalilou | XOF 40,500 | XOF 40,500 |
In both cases, the holder keeps family allowances (article 156). If they die, their survivors are entitled to a survivor’s pension (article 152).
At 53, the pension changes its name, not its amount.
4. The employer’s side: suspend, compensate, then terminate in the right order
During sick leave, the contract is suspended for six months, extended until the employee is replaced (Labour Code, article L.34). The employer pays the compensation provided for in article L.37: salary for the length of the notice period, then half salary for one month beyond the first year of service.
The INPS only opens the pension at the end of a precise procedure: medical certificate of disability, written notice to the labour inspector, then dismissal on grounds of disability and filing of the claim. See our article Disability benefit, which details each step.
Severance pay is still due
Dismissal on grounds of disability is still a dismissal. An employee with at least one year of service is entitled to severance pay, calculated on the average of the last twelve months (Labour Code, article L.53).
Example. Kalilou has nine years of service and an average monthly remuneration of XOF 150,000 over his last twelve months.
Years 1 to 5: 5 × 20% = 100%
Years 6 to 9: 4 × 25% = 100%
Severance pay: 150,000 × 200% = XOF 300,000
What you need to do
- Pay the compensation under article L.37 while the contract is suspended.
- Follow the order: certificate, labour inspector, dismissal, then INPS claim.
- Calculate and pay the severance pay, together with the certificate of employment.
5. A closer look: the periods that count as worked
For the calculation of entitlements, the Code treats the following as normal periods of salaried activity (Social Security Code, article 151):
- periods during which the employee received the daily allowance for an accident at work or occupational disease;
- closure of the establishment because the employer was called up for military service, and the employee’s own military service;
- sickness absence certified by the approved doctor, limited to six months and extended until replacement;
- interruption of work due to an incapacity of at least two thirds.
Only these grounds for suspension are covered. The other cases of suspension in article L.34, such as disciplinary lay-off or leave for pilgrimage, are not treated as insured periods.
Key takeaways in 6 points
- Check the two conditions for the disability pension: eight years of insurance and a loss of at least two thirds of earning capacity.
- Calculate the pension at 2% per year of insurance, adding six months per year remaining until 53.
- Use 53, not 50, as the age of switch to the retirement pension without reduction.
- Explain to the employee that the pension remains subject to review until they are 53.
- Pay the severance pay: disability does not remove it.
- Declare every employee from their first day: two missing months can deprive a disabled worker of any pension.