Employment law
Paid annual leave
December, and the workshop is running at full capacity. One team leader asks for a month off to go back to his village. Another offers to "get paid for his leave" so he can stay on the job and earn a little more. Both requests sound reasonable. Under Malian law, however, the second one is void, and an employer who accepts it may end up paying twice.
1. What exactly are we talking about?
"Paid leave" and "annual leave" mean the same thing: the yearly rest that the Labour Code grants to every employee. "Annual" means the right is earned over a year of service. "Paid" means that during the absence the employee receives a sum called leave pay.
How it differs from special leave
Annual leave is not the same as the time off granted for a wedding, a birth or a death in the employee's household. That time off is not deducted from earned leave, up to ten days. Other special leave granted on top of public holidays may be deducted if it was neither compensated nor made up (Labour Code, article L.146).
Annual leave is earned by working. Special leave is granted for an event.
2. How many days does an employee earn?
An employee earns two and a half days of leave per month worked, i.e. thirty days a year, non-working days included (Labour Code, article L.151). Non-working days are days when the business normally does not operate, such as Sunday. For this calculation, four weeks or 24 working days count as one month of service (article L.148).
| Service completed | Leave days earned |
|---|---|
| 1 month | 2.5 days |
| 6 months | 15 days |
| 12 months | 30 days |
Thirty calendar days, not thirty working days
The thirty days are counted on the calendar, Sundays included. Example. An employee who leaves on 1 March for thirty days returns on 31 March. He is not away for six weeks.
Absences that count as work
Some absences do not reduce leave entitlement (Labour Code, article L.149):
- time off for a work accident or occupational disease;
- absence for illness certified by a doctor, up to six months;
- maternity rest after childbirth;
- special leave provided for by the Code.
The most common mistake
Assuming that any authorised absence counts as work. The Code only protects the absences on this list. A discretionary permission granted outside these cases may be deducted from leave.
3. When can the employee leave, and who sets the date?
The right to take leave opens after twelve months of service. Entitlement is calculated over a reference period: it runs from hiring, or from the return from the last leave, until the day before the new departure (article L.148).
The employer can shift the date, not cancel the leave
If the smooth running of the business requires it, the employer may bring the departure forward or push it back. Without the employee's consent, the shift cannot exceed three months (Labour Code, article L.150).
The employee can defer leave, within a limit
At the employee's request, leave may be deferred. The deferral cannot exceed two years of service. The employee must then take at least eight days in the first year, non-working days included.
The employer shifts by three months. The employee defers by two years. No one cancels the leave.
What the text does not say
The Code forbids deferring leave beyond two years. It does not say that untaken days disappear automatically. The employer cannot rely on such a "loss": it is up to the employer to schedule departures on time, and a leftover balance remains a source of claims.
4. Splitting leave: fifteen days in one block
Leave of fifteen days or less is taken in one go. Beyond fifteen days, employer and employee may split it by mutual agreement. One of the parts must then cover at least fifteen consecutive days (article L.156).
| Length of leave | Splitting | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| 15 days or less | Not allowed | Taken in one block |
| More than 15 days | Allowed | Agreement of both parties and one part of at least 15 consecutive days |
5. Extra days: seniority, mothers, young workers
Seniority lengthens leave
Years spent with the company, continuous or not, add working days to leave (Labour Code, article L.154).
| Seniority | Extra days |
|---|---|
| After 15 years | +2 working days |
| After 20 years | +4 working days |
| After 25 years | +6 working days |
One extra day per child for mothers
A mother earns one extra working day for each child registered with the civil registry who is under 15 at the end of the reference period (article L.155).
Example. An accountant has 16 years of seniority and three children under 15.
- Basic leave: 30 days
- Seniority: + 2 days
- Children: + 3 days
- Total: 35 days
Young workers
Young workers and apprentices may request a minimum amount of leave, even if they have not earned enough days. The added days carry no extra pay (articles L.152 and L.153).
| Age on the 1st day of the month of departure | Minimum leave on request | Pay for added days |
|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 24 days | No increase |
| 18 to 21 | 21 days, even before 12 months of service | Unpaid |
6. How much to pay, and when?
Leave pay equals one twelfth of total earnings received during the reference period, in cash and in kind (Labour Code, article L.157). Three items are left out of the calculation:
- allowances that reimburse expenses;
- annual bonuses and gratuities;
- benefits in kind that the employee keeps during leave.
The employer pays leave pay no later than the day before departure (article L.161).
Example. A technician has worked twelve months. He earns a base salary of XOF 250,000 and a seniority bonus of XOF 20,000 per month. He also received a year-end bonus of XOF 250,000.
- Base salary: 250,000 × 12 = XOF 3,000,000
- Seniority bonus: 20,000 × 12 = XOF 240,000
- Year-end bonus: excluded
- Calculation base: XOF 3,240,000
- Leave pay: 3,240,000 ÷ 12 = XOF 270,000
The price of an extra day
Each day added for seniority or for children is paid at the rate of one day of main leave. That rate is the main leave pay divided by the number of working days in the leave (article L.159). If the technician's 30 days include 26 working days, each extra day is worth 270,000 ÷ 26 ≈ XOF 10,385.
When leave is deferred
The eight compulsory days of the first year are paid at the normal salary. When the main leave is taken, the employer deducts that amount from the final leave pay.
One twelfth of what was earned, paid before departure.
7. Paying instead of granting leave: the rule that does not bend
Any agreement that replaces leave with a cash payment is void (Labour Code, article L.162, as amended by Law No. 2017-021 of 12 June 2017). Leave exists so that people rest. While the contract is running, money cannot take its place.
What the "paid-but-worked" arrangement costs
Because the agreement is void, it gives the employer no protection. The employee can still claim both the leave and the leave pay that goes with it.
Example. In December, the employer pays the technician XOF 270,000 to give up his leave. In March, the employee takes his leave, as the law allows, and claims his leave pay.
- Amount paid in December: XOF 270,000
- Leave pay due in March: XOF 270,000
- Total cost for a single leave: XOF 540,000
The only way out: the end of the contract
If the contract is terminated or expires before the employee could take leave, the employer owes an end-of-contract leave payment. It is based on the entitlement earned and uses the one-twelfth rule. It is paid immediately, when the contract ends.
Example. An employee leaves the company after seven months. He earned XOF 1,750,000 over the period.
- Payment: 1,750,000 ÷ 12 ≈ XOF 145,833, paid on the day he leaves
Workers hired for a single day
A worker hired by the hour or by the day, for a job lasting one day at most, receives the leave payment with the wages, at the latest by the end of the working day. It equals one twelfth of what was earned.
During the contract, the employee takes leave. At the end of the contract, the employer pays.
8. A closer look: employees recruited far from the workplace
Employees may spend their leave wherever they wish. If an employee was recruited in a different locality from the workplace, the leave is extended by the travel time to and from their usual residence (article L.163).
When the employee takes accumulated leave after two years of continuous service, the employer also pays the return trip to the place of recruitment. This covers the employee, the spouse and the minor children who live with them, as well as their luggage (Labour Code, article L.164). The employment contract or the collective agreement may set a minimum stay, of no more than six months, below which the family's travel is not covered.
Some texts in circulation give "expatriates" five days of leave per month. The Labour Code in force contains no such rule. That kind of benefit can only come from the employment contract or a collective agreement, so check those documents before applying it.
Key takeaways in 6 points
- Employees earn 2.5 days per month, i.e. 30 calendar days a year, and may take leave after 12 months of service.
- Absences for work accidents, certified illness (up to six months), maternity and special leave count as work.
- The employer may shift the departure by up to three months. The employee may defer leave over two years, taking at least 8 days in the first year.
- Beyond 15 days, leave may be split by mutual agreement, with at least one block of 15 consecutive days.
- Leave pay equals 1/12 of earnings over the period, excluding annual bonuses and expense allowances, and is paid before departure.
- Buying out leave during the contract is void. Cash in lieu of leave is only due when the contract ends.