Employment law
Notice periods in Mali: length, form and rights during notice
Monday, 8 a.m., at the Logisahel SARL depot in Bamako: the trucks are waiting to be loaded when the managing director hands a letter to Awa, the operations manager. After two years of missed targets, the company is letting her go. Awa immediately asks two questions: "How much time do I have left? Can I take time off for interviews?" The director hesitates, and a rough answer could cost the company several months' pay.
The companies and people named in this article are fictitious. Their names are used for illustration only.
1. What exactly are we talking about?
Awa holds an open-ended contract, meaning a contract with no end date fixed in advance. An open-ended contract can always be ended by the employer (dismissal) or by the employee (resignation). But it never stops overnight.
Notice is the period between announcing the termination and the day it takes effect. During that period, the contract continues. The Code makes it mandatory for every termination of an open-ended contract, whether the employer or the employee takes the initiative (article L.40).
Why this rule? It protects the party on the receiving end. The employee gains time to look for another job. The employer gains time to arrange a replacement.
What notice is not
Three formalities meet when an employee is dismissed. None of them replaces the others.
| Formality | What it is for | Text |
|---|---|---|
| Notice | Leaving a period before the contract ends | Articles L.41 to L.45 |
| Informing the labour inspector | Allowing the administration to give an opinion on the dismissal | Article L.40 |
| Severance pay | Compensating job loss after at least one year of service | Article L.53 |
The most common mistake is to apply these rules to every contract. Notice concerns open-ended contracts. A fixed-term contract follows its own termination rules (article L.39), and a probationary period ends without notice (article L.33). On that last point, see Open-ended contract: probationary period, amendment and termination.
Notice punishes no one. It gives each side time to adjust.
2. Three formal conditions, not one fewer
At Logisahel, the workshop supervisor often announces departures verbally, then has the letter typed when he finds the time. That habit throws the whole calculation off.
Labour Code, article L.41 sets three cumulative requirements. Notice is given in writing by the party ending the contract. It starts to run on the day the letter is handed over. The reason for termination is stated in the letter.
| Requirement | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Writing | A verbal announcement does not start the notice period. The terminating party must be able to prove written notification (article L.43). |
| Starting point | The date the letter is handed over, not the date it was drafted or signed. |
| Reason | It appears in the letter itself. For a dismissal, the notice letter must state it (article L.43). |
An employee who resigns must be just as rigorous: the decision is notified in writing. The employer, for its part, may never presume a resignation (article L.40). An employee who stops showing up has not resigned for all that. See Resignation.
The extra duty on the employer
The labour inspector is the State official responsible for enforcing the Code. Any employer wishing to dismiss an employee must inform the inspector by registered letter, giving the employee's and the employer's details and the reason for dismissal. The inspector has fifteen days to give an opinion. An employee who disputes the reason may apply to the labour court, and that application suspends the employer's decision (article L.40).
What a careless notification costs
The court checks both form and substance. If the dismissal is justified but the letter is missing or gives no reason, the court awards the employee compensation of up to one month's gross pay (Labour Code, article L.52). If the reason is false or inaccurate, the dismissal becomes wrongful and gives rise to damages (article L.51). In a dispute, the employer must prove a legitimate reason.
Example. Logisahel dismisses Moussa, a mechanic paid 180,000 XOF gross a month, for repeated absences that really occurred. Without a letter, the court may award up to 180,000 XOF for the procedural defect alone, on top of payment in lieu of notice if the notice period was not observed.
No writing, no notice. The period starts on the day the letter is handed over.
What you need to do
- Hand the notice letter over in person against a dated and signed receipt, or by a method that proves the date of receipt.
- State a precise, accurate and verifiable reason, never a vague formula.
- Send the registered letter to the local labour inspector at the same time.
3. Which length applies?
Logisahel employs drivers paid by the day, mechanics paid monthly, workshop supervisors and managers. They do not all have the same notice period.
Look first at the applicable collective agreement, meaning the agreement negotiated between unions and employers for a sector (article L.70). The Code only sets lengths "in the absence of collective agreements or decrees in their stead" (Labour Code, article L.41). These lengths are default rules: they apply only when no collective text settles the question.
| Category of employee | Statutory length absent an agreement | At Logisahel |
|---|---|---|
| Staff paid by the day or the week | 8 days | The day-rate drivers |
| Employee paid monthly | 1 month | Moussa, mechanic |
| Supervisor or equivalent | 2 months | The workshop supervisor |
| Manager or executive staff | 3 months | Awa, operations manager |
The most common mistake: reasoning the French way
Many template letters in circulation calculate notice according to the employee's length of service. That is a rule of French law. In Mali, the statutory length depends on how the employee is paid and on the job category, not on length of service. Only domestic staff follow a scale based on length of service (see below).
The only exemption: gross misconduct
The Code provides for only one case of termination without notice: gross misconduct, subject to the court's assessment (article L.41). The Code does not define gross misconduct. The court decides whether the breach was serious enough to justify immediate departure. If the court rejects that classification, payment in lieu of notice becomes due again.
Beware of a second borrowing from French law: "serious misconduct" (faute grave). Malian law does not use it to remove the notice requirement. Only gross misconduct has that effect.
Poor performance exempts nothing
Awa has committed no misconduct: she did not meet her targets. Poor performance is not gross misconduct. Awa is therefore entitled to her three months' notice, or to the payment that replaces it.
The pregnant employee
A pregnant employee whose condition is medically confirmed may end her contract by informing her employer twenty-four hours in advance, save in cases of force majeure, without paying any compensation in lieu of notice (article L.178). A breastfeeding mother has the same option for fifteen months after the birth (article L.184). This is the employee's right, not an exemption granted to the employer.
A closer look: domestic staff
Domestic workers have their own regime, set by Decree No. 96-178/P-RM of 13 June 1996. Their minimum notice is one week up to six months of service, then fifteen days beyond that (article D.86-30). To look for work, they may be absent two hours a day, not one day a week.
Pay method and job category set the notice period. Length of service changes nothing.
What you need to do
- Check the length set by your collective agreement first, and only then the scale in article L.41.
- Place each employee in the right category before drafting the letter.
- Reserve termination without notice for facts you can prove to a court as gross misconduct.
4. During notice: what continues, what changes
Awa has received her letter. For three months, what must she do, and what must Logisahel do?
The principle is simple: nothing changes. Employer and employee remain bound by all their obligations (article L.42). Awa works, Logisahel pays her, her benefits continue.
Three special rules are added. They all appear in article L.44.
| Rule | What it allows |
|---|---|
| The job-search day | The employee may be absent one day a week to look for work, after informing the employer, with no loss of pay. The employee chooses the days and may ask to group them at the end of the notice period. |
| Early departure | On dismissal, once half the notice period has been served, an employee who has found a job may leave, after informing the employer, without paying any compensation. |
| Release from work | If the employer releases the employee from working, it may not reduce pay, benefits or leave pay, unless both parties agree. |
Labour Code, article L.44. The job-search day applies to dismissal and resignation alike.
Example. Awa's notice lasts three months, about thirteen weeks. She may therefore take about thirteen paid days off for her interviews. If she finds a position, she may leave Logisahel owing nothing once she has served a month and a half of notice.
The most common mistake: "two hours a day"
Some employers grant employees under notice two hours a day. That formula comes from French law. In Mali, the Code provides for one day a week. Two hours a day applies only to domestic staff (Decree No. 96-178/P-RM, article D.86-30).
What a refusal costs
Refusing that day off is no small matter. A party that fails to meet the obligations in articles L.42 and L.44 can no longer require the other to serve any notice, and the other party may also claim damages (Labour Code, article L.45). In other words, an employer who refuses the job-search day releases the employee from notice.
One last rule to know: an employee with responsibilities, for example a cash box or a stock, may not leave before rendering accounts (article L.43).
During notice, the contract is still alive: the employee works, the employer pays.
What you need to do
- Inform the employee in writing of the right to one day off a week and record the days taken.
- Maintain pay and all benefits until the last day, even when the employee is released from work.
- Arrange the handover of accounts, keys and equipment before employees with responsibilities leave.
5. What failing to give notice costs
Suppose Logisahel asks Awa to leave the same day, without notice and without gross misconduct.
Failure to observe notice requires the party responsible to pay the other a sum equal to the pay and benefits of every kind the employee would have received during the notice not served (Labour Code, article L.42). The rule works both ways: an employee who leaves without serving notice also owes this payment to the employer.
Two points change the amount.
- Benefits of every kind count: housing, vehicle, benefits in kind, not just basic salary.
- Bonuses and commissions also count, unless they reimburse expenses. Their monthly average over the last twelve months is used (Labour Code, article L.100).
Example. Payment owed to Awa for three months of notice not served:
Basic salary: 450,000 XOF
Monthly average of bonuses over twelve months: 90,000 XOF
Monthly housing allowance: 60,000 XOF
Monthly base: 450,000 + 90,000 + 60,000 = 600,000 XOF
Payment in lieu of notice: 600,000 × 3 = 1,800,000 XOF
Had Awa served one month of notice before being sent home without pay, the payment would cover the two remaining months, i.e. 1,200,000 XOF.
The amounts add up
Payment in lieu of notice replaces nothing. Damages for wrongful termination are separate from it and from severance pay (article L.51). All three may therefore be combined. See Severance pay.
The Code also provides criminal penalties: a fine of 50,000 to 200,000 XOF for breaches of article L.42, raised to 100,000 to 400,000 XOF for a repeat offence (article L.318).
Notice not served is paid in full: salary, bonuses and benefits included.
What you need to do
- Calculate the payment on total pay, including bonuses over the last twelve months and benefits.
- Pay it with the final settlement, as soon as work ends.
- Claim the payment in writing from an employee who leaves without serving notice.
Key takeaways in 6 points
- Always notify the termination of an open-ended contract in writing, with an accurate reason: notice runs from the day the letter is handed over.
- Inform the labour inspector of any dismissal by registered letter, in addition to giving notice.
- Look for the length in your collective agreement; failing that, apply 8 days, 1 month, 2 months or 3 months according to category.
- Remove notice only for gross misconduct you can prove; poor performance does not exempt from it.
- Give the employee one paid day a week to look for work: refusing it releases the employee from notice.
- Pay any notice not served on total pay, bonuses and benefits included, on top of any other sums due.