Employment law
Working hours in Mali: what the employer can decide alone
Monday, 6:30 a.m., Sotuba industrial zone. Kanu Distribution's lorries are already queuing outside the warehouse, and the managing director wants to bring the start of the shift forward by one hour to handle the holiday orders. The warehouse manager is worried: are the guards already working too many hours, can the storekeepers refuse, and how much will the Sundays cost? A wrong answer is paid for in back pay, in fines, and sometimes in a termination attributable to the employer.
Kanu Distribution is a food wholesaler with 48 employees: 30 storekeepers and handlers, 8 delivery drivers, 4 security guards and 6 administrative and sales staff. We will follow its decisions throughout this article. This company and the people mentioned are fictitious: their names are used for illustration only.
1. What exactly are we talking about?
At Kanu Distribution, the storekeepers work from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday, with a one-hour break. That makes 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week. This figure is no accident.
Statutory working time is the weekly ceiling beyond which every hour becomes an overtime hour, paid at a higher rate. It is 40 hours a week in all establishments (Labour Code, article L.131). Over a month, it represents 173.33 hours (40 × 52 ÷ 12).
The working schedule is the way those hours are spread out: start time, breaks, working days. It falls within managerial authority, meaning the employer's right to organise work within the company.
The case of agriculture
On agricultural holdings, working time is set at 2,352 hours a year. Order No. 96-1566 of 7 October 1996 (article A.131-1) spreads it by season: 42 hours a week from March to June, 46 hours from July to October and 48 hours from November to February. The agricultural week may not exceed 48 hours (Labour Code, article L.138).
What the rule protects
Statutory working time protects the employee's health and rest time. It also sets a price: beyond 40 hours, the employer pays a premium.
The most common mistake
Many employers read the 40 hours as an absolute maximum. It is not: people may work longer, but every hour beyond it is counted and paid at a premium. Conversely, a 45-hour schedule paid as 40 hours does not become lawful because the employee agreed to it.
The scheduling options provided for
The Code leaves room to organise work. Order No. 96-1566 (article A.131-2) provides in particular for cyclical hours, which allow weeks of more and fewer than 40 hours to alternate within the month, shift work with successive teams, and individualised hours. Individualised hours require the labour inspector to be informed in advance (Labour Code, article L.132). Part-time work requires the opinion of the staff delegates, notice to the inspector and a written contract (Labour Code, article L.133).
Forty hours is not a wall. It is the line from which every hour costs more.
What you need to do
- Check that each team's schedule does not exceed 40 hours a week.
- Choose in writing how work is organised: fixed, cyclical, shift or individualised hours.
- Inform the labour inspector before introducing individualised hours or part-time work.
2. Equivalences: when 56 hours of presence count as 40
Kanu Distribution's four guards spend 56 hours a week on site. They do not work continuously: they watch, make rounds and open the gate. The managing director wonders whether he owes them 16 hours of overtime every week.
The answer lies in the concept of equivalence. An equivalence is a period of presence longer than 40 hours that the law treats as equal to statutory working time, because the work is intermittent or includes idle periods (Labour Code, article L.136). The wage due is that of 40 hours of actual work.
Equivalences cannot be presumed. They are set by Order No. 96-1566 of 7 October 1996 (article A.136-2):
| Job | Weekly presence equivalent to statutory working time |
|---|---|
| Security, surveillance, fire service | 56 hours |
| Caretaker-guards housed on the premises | Continuous presence, with 24 hours' rest a week and 2 weeks' paid leave on top of statutory leave |
| Sales staff in wholesale and semi-wholesale trade, and in non-food retail | 42 hours |
| Food retail sales staff | 46 hours |
| Hospitals, clinics, dispensaries and similar establishments | 45 hours |
| Cooks in cafés, restaurants, hotels and bars | 45 hours |
| Other staff in cafés, restaurants, hotels and bars | 50 hours |
| Hairdressing salons | 50 hours |
| Domestic workers | 260 hours a month, i.e. 173.33 hours of actual work |
What distinguishes an equivalence from overtime
For Kanu Distribution's guards, the 56 hours of presence are paid as 40 hours of work. Nothing more is due as long as that threshold is respected. Beyond 56 hours, every hour of presence is an overtime hour.
The sales staff at Kanu Distribution's wholesale counter fall under the 42-hour equivalence. Their 43rd hour of presence is an overtime hour.
The most common mistake
Applying an equivalence to a job that is not on the list. Kanu Distribution's delivery drivers sometimes wait a long time during loading, but their job is not covered by any equivalence. Their extra time is either a limited extension, explained below, or overtime.
An hour of presence is not always an hour of work. But only the order says when.
What you need to do
- Check, job by job, whether the position appears on the list of equivalences.
- Pay employees under an equivalence on the basis of 40 hours of actual work, and pay a premium for every hour beyond the equivalence threshold.
- Grant at least 24 hours' rest a week, including to housed guards.
3. Overtime: controlled use, a price set by law
December is approaching. Kanu Distribution is receiving twice as many orders and wants its storekeepers to work 52 hours a week for a month.
An overtime hour is an hour worked beyond statutory working time. It entitles the employee to a premium, meaning a supplement calculated as a percentage of the wage (Labour Code, article L.137).
The minimum rates
Unless a collective agreement or company agreement is more favourable, the minimum premiums are as follows. Night work is work performed between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. (Labour Code, article L.141).
| When the hour is worked | Minimum premium |
|---|---|
| Working day, daytime, from the 41st to the 48th hour | 10% |
| Working day, daytime, beyond the 48th hour | 25% |
| Working day, night-time | 50% |
| Non-working day, daytime | 50% |
| Non-working day, night-time | 100% |
In agriculture, the rates are 10% for daytime hours beyond 48 hours and 50% at night, then 50% by day and 100% at night on weekly rest days and public holidays (Labour Code, article L.138).
Example. A Kanu Distribution storekeeper earns XOF 173,330 a month. He works 52 daytime hours over a week of working days.
Hourly rate: 173,330 ÷ 173.33 = XOF 1,000
41st to 48th hour: 8 h × 1,000 × 1.10 = XOF 8,800
49th to 52nd hour: 4 h × 1,000 × 1.25 = XOF 5,000
Total due for the 12 overtime hours: XOF 13,800
Over a month of four identical weeks, this comes to XOF 55,200 per storekeeper. For 30 storekeepers, the bill reaches XOF 1,656,000.
Overtime must be authorised
Overtime is not a simple extension of the schedule. Under article L.140 of the Code, Order No. 96-1566 (articles A.140-1 and A.140-2) sets the grounds and ceilings:
| Ground | Limit set by the order |
|---|---|
| Urgent work: preventing the loss of a product or an accident, repairing equipment or installations | 2 hours a day |
| Urgent and exceptional work in the event of an extraordinary surge in work | 75 hours a year |
| Maintaining or increasing production | 18 hours a week, subject to authorisation from the labour inspector valid for 3 months and renewable |
In exceptional circumstances, the inspector may authorise the 18-hour ceiling to be exceeded, provided the week does not exceed 60 hours. Kanu Distribution's year-end peak falls under the third ground: 12 hours a week stays below the ceiling, but the inspector's authorisation is required.
The flat-rate payment that does not cover everything
Some companies pay a fixed bonus "for the extra hours". Such a flat rate is only valid if it gives the employee at least what the statutory calculation would (Labour Code, article L.139). If the storekeeper receives a flat XOF 40,000 for December, Kanu Distribution still owes him XOF 15,200.
What a mistake costs
Unpaid overtime can be claimed for three years (Labour Code, article L.118). Breaching the working-time rules is punishable by a fine of XOF 5,000 to 18,000, raised to XOF 15,000 to 50,000 for a repeat offence (Labour Code, article L.325). The fine is incurred as many times as there are offences, for example as many times as there are employees concerned (Labour Code, article L.335).
Overtime is authorised, counted and paid at a premium. Never one without the others.
What you need to do
- Request the labour inspector's authorisation before a production peak that requires overtime.
- Count hours every week and show overtime on the payslip.
- Compare any flat-rate payment with the statutory amount and pay the difference.
4. Changing schedules: what you decide alone, what needs the employee's agreement
For the holiday season, the managing director wants two changes. First, to bring the whole warehouse's start time forward from 7 a.m. to 6 a.m. Second, to move Adama, a day-shift storekeeper for six years, to a new night shift.
What the Code says
The Labour Code does not list which schedule changes are allowed or forbidden. It sets a test. A change is substantial when it affects a term without which the employee would not have signed, such as pay, working conditions, place of work or the job held (Labour Code, article L.58).
An adjustment that does not affect such a term falls within managerial authority. A substantial change, by contrast, must be proposed: the employee may refuse it.
The trap of ready-made lists
Many guides in circulation claim that moving from day to night work, or from fixed to variable hours, is "always" a substantial change. These lists come from French case law. In Mali, the test in article L.58 applies, and the court assesses it case by case.
| Planned change | Reading under article L.58 | Prudent approach |
|---|---|---|
| Bringing the whole warehouse's start time forward by one hour, same working time | Collective organisation of work: in principle within managerial authority | Notify staff and update the posted schedule and the internal rules |
| Changing a specific schedule written into the contract | Affects a term of the contract | Propose in writing and obtain agreement |
| Moving an employee from day to night work | Profoundly changes working conditions: high risk of a substantial change | Propose in writing, do not impose |
| Reducing working time and therefore pay | Affects pay | Propose in writing and obtain agreement |
In industrial undertakings there is an additional obstacle: night work by women is prohibited there, subject to the exceptions provided by law (Labour Code, article L.186).
If the employee refuses
Adama refuses the night shift. The employer may drop the change or terminate the contract. If it terminates, the termination is attributable to it, meaning it is treated as a dismissal, with its procedure, notice and severance (L.58). The dismissal is only found unfair if the proposal was intended to cause harm or was reckless, but it costs the price of a dismissal.
Example. Adama earns an average of XOF 200,000 a month and has six years' service. If Kanu Distribution dismisses him after his refusal:
One month's notice, worked or paid: XOF 200,000
Severance pay, first 5 years: 200,000 × 5 × 20% = XOF 200,000
Severance pay, 6th year: 200,000 × 1 × 25% = XOF 50,000
Minimum total: XOF 450,000, excluding paid leave
If the employee accepts
Agreement does not mean immediate application. The change only takes effect after a period equal to the notice period, up to a maximum of one month (L.58). Adama, who is paid monthly, would therefore only join the night shift one month after agreeing. To go further, see Open-ended contract: probation, changes and termination.
Organising work is your right. Changing what led the employee to sign is a proposal.
What you need to do
- Classify each schedule change: a collective adjustment, or a change to an essential term of the contract.
- Propose any substantial change in writing and keep the employee's answer.
- Wait for the statutory period, up to one month, before applying an accepted change.
5. Weekly rest: 24 hours that cannot be bought
To meet deadlines, the warehouse manager suggests having the team work four Sundays in a row, "with a bonus".
Weekly rest is compulsory. It lasts at least 24 hours, takes place in principle on Sunday and may under no circumstances be replaced by a payment (Labour Code, article L.142). It guarantees the employee a real break every week. A bonus therefore never buys back rest.
Who may give rest on a day other than Sunday
Only establishments whose activity cannot stop without serious inconvenience to community life may give rest on a rota basis, on a day other than Sunday (Labour Code, article L.143). Order No. 96-1566 (article A.144-2) lists them, including in particular:
- care establishments and pharmacies;
- hotels, restaurants, cafés and canteens;
- establishments producing and selling food intended for consumption;
- telecommunications, water and electricity services, radio and television;
- public transport, press and travel agencies, childcare centres.
The labour inspector may authorise other companies after consulting the employers' and workers' organisations concerned. Kanu Distribution, which sells food products, must check that it is indeed on the list; if in doubt, it requests authorisation.
What working on the rest day costs
Having an employee work on Sunday on top of the normal week means overtime on a non-working day: a 50% premium by day, 100% at night (L.137). And the employee must still have 24 hours' rest during the week.
Example. A storekeeper paid XOF 1,000 an hour works 6 daytime hours on a Sunday, on top of his 40 hours.
One Sunday: 6 h × 1,000 × 1.50 = XOF 9,000
Four Sundays: 9,000 × 4 = XOF 36,000
Public holidays follow a similar logic: rest is compulsory, except in establishments that cannot interrupt work, where the employees on duty keep their wage and receive an additional payment (Decree No. 2022-0125/PT-RM of 4 March 2022, article D.145-1). See Public holidays. Failure to respect weekly rest is punishable by a fine of XOF 10,000 to 18,000, and XOF 100,000 for a repeat offence (Labour Code, article L.324).
What you need to do
- Check whether the business appears on the list of establishments allowed to give rest on a rota basis.
- Build the rota so that each employee has at least 24 hours' rest a week.
- Pay a 50% premium by day and 100% at night for extra hours worked on a non-working day.
6. What to write down, and where
Kanu Distribution employs more than ten people. It must therefore have internal rules, the document in which the employer sets the company's collective rules (Labour Code, article L.62). Their content is limited to the technical organisation of work, discipline, health and safety, and wage payment arrangements (Labour Code, article L.64). Collective working hours belong there.
| Item | Where to write it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Collective hours for each team | Internal rules, under the technical organisation of work (L.64) | They apply to everyone without appearing in each contract |
| The internal rules themselves | Approved by the labour inspector, then posted at the workplace (L.66 and L.67) | They only come into force 20 days after approval (L.68) |
| Working time of a part-time employee | Written employment contract (L.133) | Writing is compulsory |
| Overtime worked | Payslip (L.105) and second part of the employer's register (L.130) | They prove the count in an inspection or dispute |
| A specific individual schedule | Employment contract, only if you want to commit to it | It becomes a term of the contract |
The most common mistake
Writing "hours: 7 a.m. – 4 p.m." into every contract out of habit. The day the company wants to bring the start time forward, that schedule has become a contractual term, and each employee's agreement is needed. For the full procedure, see Internal rules.
What you need to do
- Set collective hours in the internal rules and have them approved by the labour inspector.
- Keep a precise schedule in the contract only where you intend to commit to it.
- Keep payslips and the employer's register up to date with the hours actually worked.
A closer look: extra hours that are not overtime
One Tuesday, a power cut stops Kanu Distribution's warehouse for half a day. Two mechanisms allow, in specific cases, longer working hours paid at the normal rate.
Recovery allows hours lost to be made up after a collective stoppage due to an accidental cause or force majeure: equipment breakdown, power cut, shortage of raw materials, bad weather. Hours lost to strikes or lockouts are excluded. Recovered hours are paid at the normal rate (Labour Code, article L.134).
Order No. 96-1566 frames this catch-up. The working day may not be extended by more than one hour (article A.134-4). A lost half-day or day is recovered within the same week or the following week (article A.134-2). If the stoppage exceeds one week, recovering beyond these periods requires the labour inspector's authorisation (article A.134-3). Even for a short stoppage, the employer informs the inspector (article A.134-6). Kanu Distribution can therefore recover its 4 lost hours by adding one hour a day for four days, paid at the normal rate.
Extension allows the working day to be lengthened for preparatory or complementary work, also at the normal rate (Labour Code, article L.135). The list and durations are set by the order (article A.135-2): for example one hour at most for drivers, delivery staff and storekeepers, or four hours for security work, without exceeding 56 hours a week.
Outside these cases and limits, any hour beyond statutory working time remains an overtime hour.
Key takeaways in 6 points
- Count working time on the basis of 40 hours a week: beyond that, every hour is an overtime hour.
- Apply an equivalence only to jobs listed in the order, and pay it on the basis of 40 hours of actual work.
- Have production overtime authorised by the labour inspector, and pay it at the statutory premium.
- Propose in writing any schedule change that affects an essential term of the contract, and never impose it.
- Give every employee at least 24 hours' rest a week: no bonus replaces it.
- Write collective hours into the internal rules, not into each contract.