Salary

Where working conditions, professional qualifications and performance are equal, pay is the same for all workers, regardless of their origin, gender, age or status. 

Wages are the consideration for the work performed by the employee.

Wages must not be lower than the national minimum wage (SMIG) or the minimum remuneration set by the collective agreement.

It is paid in the legal tender of Mali; payment must be made no later than 8 days after the end of the month.

Determining the wage 

It is important to distinguish between the various elements or components of pay: basic pay, bonuses and allowances, statutory and/or collectively agreed supplements, overtime, and benefits in kind.

Social security contributions apply to all components of the salary except allowances intended to reimburse expenses.

Allowances are calculated on the basis of the average gross salary over the last twelve months.

However, the salary is freely negotiated between the employer and the employee. That said, it is prohibited to pay less than the minimum wage (SMIG) and forbidden to pay a salary below the minimum levels set by the collective agreement.

Only apprenticeship contracts are exempt from this rule, as apprentices receive, for the first two years, a certain percentage of the SMIG.

Issuing a payslip 

Every employer is required to provide the employee with an individual payslip at the time of payment.

The payslip must be written in ink or using a method that produces indelible writing. No signature or commitment is required.

The payslip must include 

The company stamp or the employer’s name and address, and the employee’s name, address and registration number in the employer’s register.

- The date of payment and the corresponding period;

- The job title and occupational category;

- The gross remuneration, including all components: bonuses, allowances and overtime.

- Itemised deductions: wage garnishments, repayments of advance payments, taxes and duties, social security contributions, etc.

- Net pay.

 New 

An employer cannot abolish a bonus if it is part of established company practice. To abolish it, the employer must first give proper notice.

Limitation period 

The right to claim payment of wages is subject to a limitation period of three years. This limitation period, which extinguishes the claim and discharges the obligation, begins to run on the date on which the wages are due.

 This limitation period is interrupted by:

- A certificate from the Labour Inspector stating the date on which an individual dispute was referred to them, together with the subject matter of that dispute;

- A legal claim that has not become time-barred.

Deductions from wages

Deductions are lawful where they relate to compulsory tax and social security contributions, repayments pursuant to Article L.96(2) and (3), and payments provided for in contracts pursuant to collective agreements. This includes:

• By ‘tax deduction’, taxes on salaries and wages deducted at source.
• By ‘social security contribution’, contributions to social security schemes.

 Deductions arising from garnishment orders or voluntary assignments made in the forms defined by the regulations are permitted within certain limits.

 Wages are assignable, on the basis of the monthly wage, up to the following limits (Article D.123-2 of the Decree implementing the Labour Code):

• 1/4 for wages between 20,960 and 62,880 CFA francs;
• One-third for wages between 62,881 and 125,760 CFA francs;
• 1/2 for salaries between 125,761 and 251,520 CFA francs;
• Three-quarters for salaries above 251,521 CFA francs.

Delayed Payment of Wages

Can a delay in salary payment (beyond the 8th) justify termination of the contract?

For employees paid on a monthly basis, wages must be paid once a month. If payment is made more than one month after the previous wage payment, this breach may be deemed serious enough to prevent the continuation of the employment contract…

For employees on a monthly pay scheme, their remuneration is paid once a month. This frequency applies to the basic salary.

Some employers arrange for payments at a different frequency – quarterly, half-yearly or annually – for the payment of bonuses, for example. 

For employees not on a monthly pay scheme, their wages are paid at least twice a month, with no more than 16 days between the two payments. The first payment, covering days worked, is an interim payment. The final monthly payslip, showing the interim payment, is issued at the end of the month. Do not confuse ‘interim payment’ with ‘advance’.

Terminology

 Instalment or advance on wages: An employee may request an instalment or advance on wages, the amount of which may not exceed half of their monthly wages. Except in a few specific cases, the employer is not obliged to grant it.

Advance payment: For days already worked.

Advance: For days not yet worked.

Gross salary: This is the salary before social security contributions have been deducted, as opposed to the net salary, which is calculated after social security contributions have been deducted.

Other cases: failure to comply with payment frequencies

It is important to adhere to these payment intervals. For employees on a monthly salary, for example, if the interval between two salary payments exceeds one month, this can quickly become a serious issue.

A case was heard before the Court of Appeal. The employer had, on several occasions over a five-month period, paid an employee late. In the judges’ view, this constituted a breach serious enough to prevent the continuation of the employment contract. It justified a declaration that the employment contract had been terminated due to the employer’s fault.

In this case, the employer had, on two occasions over a five-month period, paid the wages more than one month after the previous payment, exceeding by a few days the maximum one-month interval that must elapse between each payment. In its defence, the employer had attempted to demonstrate that the two delays in payment were due to difficulties linked to the resumption of business operations and that they had affected the entire workforce. This argument was not accepted.

The declaration that the contract was terminated due to the employer’s fault has the same legal consequences as a dismissal without real and serious cause (the employee will be entitled to compensation for dismissal without real and serious cause, notice pay and paid annual leave).