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Dismissal: Can your solicitor handle the entire process?
Invitation to the preliminary interview
Dismissal: can the employee's lawyer attend the meeting?
The Malian Labour Code provides neither for a pre-dismissal meeting nor for any rule on a lawyer's presence: these rules come from French law. It requires legitimate grounds proven by the employer, written notification stating the grounds and informing the labour inspector. Hearing the employee is still useful to check the grounds, allowing them to bring a delegate or colleague. Before the court, a lawyer is always allowed.
Dismissal: what a badly handled procedure costs in Mali
In Mali, a dismissal must be notified in writing with its reason, and the labour inspector informed by registered letter. If the reason is legitimate but the form is flawed, the court must award up to one month's gross salary, on top of notice and severance pay. Without a legitimate reason, damages are added. The pre-dismissal meeting is a French rule; dismissing a staff representative without authorisation is void.
Domestic workers
Domestic workers are covered by the Labour Code and articles D.86-1 to D.86-40 of the 1996 decree. They need a letter of engagement, a trial of one month at most, and pay at least equal to their category minimum, 40,000 to 49,000 XOF since 2022. 260 hours of attendance count as 173.33 paid hours; beyond 60 hours a week, overtime premiums apply. Leave, notice and severance follow precise rules.
Drafting an establishment agreement in Mali: the steps that make it applicable
An establishment agreement adapts the collective agreement to the company, and only upwards. It is signed with the staff delegates and union representatives actually employed in the establishment, and its pay clause may redistribute a branch increase without ever spending less than it (L.88). It must be in French on pain of nullity and submitted for ministerial approval (L.73). The Code makes only articles L.72, L.73 and L.77 applicable to it.
Drafting the internal rules
This guide sets out a standard four-part outline for internal rules and how to draft each section: graded discipline without fines, operational hygiene and safety, payment arrangements without amounts. It gives the full timetable, roughly two and a half months from draft to entry into force, and a checklist to run before transmission to the labour inspector.
Economic dismissal in Mali: grounds, alternatives and procedure
In Mali, economic dismissal requires a job to be abolished because of economic difficulties or technological change, with the burden of proof on the employer (articles L.46 and L.48). You must first consult the delegates on alternatives, then follow the order: volunteers, aptitude, adjusted length of service. The list and minutes go to the inspector. The employee receives notice, severance pay and a one-month special allowance.
Employee Administrative Files: the Complete List of Documents to Hold, Worker by Worker
No Malian text requires an “employee file”: it requires documents. The signed and endorsed original contract with its proof of filing, civil-status papers for the worker, spouse and children, medical visit slips but never the medical record, dated warnings but never fines, payslips and departure papers. The file proves for one worker; the employer's register proves for the whole company.
Employee Retirement in Mali
Retirement benefits for employees in Mali depend on age, status, and at least 13 years of coverage. A 9% contribution funds old age, disability, and death benefits. The pension is based on the average of the last eight years of wages at 2% per year of coverage. Preparing your file early helps verify your career records and speed up processing.
Employee disputes: a case is won before it exists
Personnel disputes: the burden of proving the ground lies with the employer, and an empty file is a lost one. …
Employee not registered with INPS: what the employer risks, how to regularise
Every hire must be declared within eight days of the start of work, trial period included (CPS, art. 163). Contributions, 25.56 to 28.56% of pay, are due before the 15th of each month above nine employees, of each quarter otherwise (art. 199). Any delay costs at least 2% per month (art. 208), plus ex officio assessment and fines. For an unregistered employee, INPS may leave accident benefits to the employer (art. 165).
Employee sickness in Mali: suspension, compensation and limits
In Mali, non-occupational illness confirmed by a certificate suspends the contract for six months, extended until the employee is actually replaced. The employer pays full remuneration for the notice period, then half for one month after the first year. Illness is never a ground for dismissal. After more than three weeks' absence, a return-to-work medical visit is compulsory.
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