Employment law
Night work: which hours, who may work at night, what premium?
Midnight at the Huilerie du Bani. The presses are running; the night shift started at 9 p.m. and will not leave until 5 a.m. The director wants to add a fourth night per week, put two women workers on the bagging line and pay “as usual”. Three decisions, three possible mistakes: in Mali, night has a legal definition, some people may not work at night, and the night premium does not apply where many expect it.
1. What exactly are we talking about?
Huilerie du Bani is a fictitious oilseed-processing company with 120 employees working in three shifts: its name and situation are used purely as an example.
Night work is work carried out between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. (Labour Code, article L.141). Whatever the company calls the shift, an hour worked in that window is a night hour.
Why a legal definition? Because night work is more tiring, carries more risk of accidents and cuts people off from family life. The Code uses it for two purposes: paying a premium on certain hours, and prohibiting night work for certain people.
| Huilerie shift | Hours | Night hours |
|---|---|---|
| Morning | 5 a.m. – 1 p.m. | None |
| Afternoon | 1 p.m. – 9 p.m. | None |
| Night | 9 p.m. – 5 a.m. | 8 hours |
“From 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., it is night. The rest is just a matter of organisation.”
2. The premium: only for overtime
The Labour Code provides no premium for night hours worked within the legal 40-hour week. It adds a premium to overtime worked at night: in the absence of a collective or company agreement, 50% on working days and 100% on non-working days (Labour Code, article L.137). In agricultural businesses, where the legal week is 48 hours, night overtime carries a 50% premium, and 100% on rest days or public holidays (article L.138).
A night premium for normal hours may nevertheless exist: it is then provided for by the collective agreement, a company agreement or the contract. Hence the importance of knowing which agreement binds you: see Which collective agreement applies to my company?
Example. An operator paid 173,333 XOF per month, i.e. 1,000 XOF per hour on the basis of 173.33 hours (40 hours × 52 weeks ÷ 12), works six 8-hour nights from Monday to Saturday, i.e. 48 hours:
Overtime: 48 − 40 = 8 hours, all at night Amount due: 8 × 1,000 × 1.5 = 12,000 XOF Paid “as usual”: 8 × 1,000 = 8,000 XOF Employee’s shortfall: 4,000 XOF per week, i.e. 208,000 XOF over 52 weeks
If he also works a Sunday night, a non-working day, each overtime hour that night carries a 100% premium.
The most common mistake
Believing in a “statutory night premium” on all night hours, or conversely forgetting the premium on overtime worked at night. The Code adds a premium to the latter; the former depends on your agreement or contracts.
What you need to do
- Identify, on every rota, the hours falling between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.
- Pay night overtime at +50% on weekdays and +100% on non-working days, unless a more favourable agreed rate applies.
- Check whether your collective agreement provides a premium for normal night hours.
3. Who may not work at night
Two groups are protected. Women may not be employed at night in any industrial undertaking, public or private (Labour Code, article L.186). The implementing decree specifies the places: factories, manufacturing plants, mines and quarries, building sites and workshops (Decree No. 96-178/P-RM of 13 June 1996, article D.189-2, amended in 2022).
Three exceptions are provided: businesses where only members of the same family work, women holding management or technical posts involving responsibility, and women working in health and welfare services who do not normally do manual work (same articles). In industries processing materials liable to very rapid deterioration, a temporary exemption is possible after notifying the inspector, up to fifteen nights a year without special authorisation, with compensatory rest of the same length (article D.189-3).
Under-18s may not be employed on any night work, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., in industrial and commercial establishments (article D.189-16). See Can you hire a minor? and Women’s work: prohibited tasks and hours.
For women and children, rest must also last at least 12 consecutive hours (article L.186).
The most common mistake
Putting two women workers on the night bagging line because they volunteer. Their consent does not lift the ban: only one of the three exceptions, or the perishable-materials exemption, allows it. The offence is punishable by a fine of 20,000 to 50,000 XOF, 50,000 to 200,000 XOF for a repeat offence, and it is incurred for each woman concerned (Labour Code, article L.326; article L.335).
What you need to do
- Reserve workshop night shifts for adult men, unless an exception provided by the texts applies.
- Arrange 12 consecutive hours of rest for women and young workers.
- Notify the inspector before using any perishable-materials exemption, and record it.
4. Guards and night watchmen: the equivalence rule
The oil mill’s guard spends the night on site, but part of that time is not actual work. The Code allows, for certain jobs, a period of presence longer than the legal working time that is treated as “equivalent” to it (Labour Code, article L.136). For guarding, surveillance and fire-service staff, 56 hours of presence per week are equivalent to 40 hours of actual work (Order No. 1566/MEFPT-SG of 7 October 1996, article A.136.2).
Beyond 56 hours of presence, hours become overtime, and those falling at night carry the premium like any others. The pay due for the 56 hours is that for 40 hours of actual work (article L.136).
In a private household, a permanent live-in guard is required to be present continuously, with 24 hours of rest per week and fifteen days of leave on top of statutory leave (article D.86-18). See Domestic workers: contract, hours, pay, leave.
What you need to do
- Apply the 56-hour equivalence only to guarding, surveillance and fire-service posts.
- Pay any presence beyond 56 hours as overtime.
A closer look: French rules that do not exist in Mali
Much of the content in circulation describes night work French-style: a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. window, “night worker” status, compulsory compensatory rest, a maximum of 8 hours per night, enhanced medical monitoring. None of this appears in the Malian Labour Code.
Conversely, Mali has kept a rule that France abandoned: the ban in principle on night work by women in industry, confirmed by Law No. 2017-021 of 12 June 2017 and by Decree No. 2022-0125/PT-RM of 4 March 2022. A Malian employer must therefore apply it, even if an imported organisational model does not.
Key takeaways in 6 points
- Count as a night hour any hour worked between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.
- Pay the premium on night overtime: 50% on weekdays, 100% on non-working days, unless a higher agreed rate applies.
- Check your collective agreement for a premium on normal night hours.
- Assign neither women nor under-18s to workshop night shifts, apart from the exceptions provided.
- Guarantee women and young workers 12 consecutive hours of rest.
- Apply the 56-hour equivalence to guards and watchmen only, and pay anything beyond as overtime.