Employment law
Pensions: Survivor’s allowance
Monday morning, Transports Niger-Express depot. Adama’s truck stays parked: the driver died of an illness over the weekend, aged 38. His widow comes to the office with three children and one question: “What will the INPS pay us?”. Adama had been contributing for nine years. The answer comes down to one word: an allowance, not a pension.
Transports Niger-Express and the people mentioned in this article are fictitious: they are used as examples only.
1. What exactly are we talking about?
Transports Niger-Express employs 45 people in Bamako. Adama had been a driver there for nine years, declared to and contributing to the National Social Security Institute (INPS). He was therefore an insured person: an employee registered with the INPS for whom contributions have been paid.
The survivor’s allowance is a lump sum paid once to the survivors of an insured person who had less than thirteen years of insurance on the date of death (Social Security Code, article 154). The insurance period is the number of months during which the employee contributed to the pension scheme.
The thirteen-year threshold is not arbitrary: it is the minimum period of contributory employment required for a retirement pension (article 143). Below it, the family does not receive a monthly pension, but a single lump sum.
| Insured person’s situation at death | What the survivors receive |
|---|---|
| Less than 13 years of insurance | A survivor’s allowance, paid once (article 154) |
| Pension holder, or insured person who met the conditions for a retirement or disability pension | A survivor’s pension, paid monthly (article 152) |
Why this rule? It guarantees the family some support even when the contributory career was too short to build a pension.
The most common mistake
Believing that the family is entitled to nothing because the employee had not reached thirteen years of contributions. As long as he was insured, his survivors can claim the allowance.
Less than thirteen years of insurance: a lump sum, paid once. Beyond that, the family is covered by the survivor’s pension.
2. Who are the survivors?
The Code identifies two categories of survivors (Social Security Code, article 153):
- the widow or widower, provided the marriage took place at least two years before the insured person’s death;
- the children dependent on the deceased, as defined for family benefits.
A dependent child is a child registered with the civil registry whose birth, upkeep, food and education were paid for by the insured person (article 9). The age limits are those for family allowances (articles 23 and 24):
| Child’s situation | Age limit |
|---|---|
| General case | Under 14 |
| Child in apprenticeship | 18 |
| Child in education | 21 |
| Child with a disability or incurable illness, permanently unable to work | 21 |
Adama married six years before his death: his widow meets the two-year condition. His three children are 4, 9 and 16; the eldest is at school, so he remains within the age limit of 21.
The recent marriage trap
A marriage celebrated less than two years before the death does not allow the spouse to be recognised as a survivor. Dependent children, however, remain survivors whatever the date of the marriage.
What you need to do
- Gather the marriage certificate and birth certificates to check each survivor’s conditions.
- Identify each child’s situation: in school, in apprenticeship or with a disability.
- Refer the family to the INPS with these documents within the first few weeks.
3. How much? The calculation step by step
The amount of the allowance is built in three steps (Social Security Code, article 157):
- calculate the average monthly remuneration: the total earnings subject to contributions over the last eight years, divided by 96 (article 156); for a career of less than eight years, the INPS divides the total by the number of months actually contributed;
- calculate the pension the insured person would have received for 156 months of insurance: 13 years at 2% per year, i.e. 26% of that average remuneration (article 156);
- grant one monthly instalment of that pension for each six-month period of insurance completed on the date of death.
Example. Over his last eight years, Adama earned XOF 19,200,000 in wages subject to contributions. He had nine years of insurance.
Average monthly remuneration: 19,200,000 ÷ 96 = XOF 200,000
Reference pension for 156 months: 200,000 × 26% = XOF 52,000
Six-month periods of insurance: 9 years × 2 = 18
Survivor’s allowance: 52,000 × 18 = XOF 936,000, paid once
How the allowance is shared
The INPS shares the allowance among the survivors using the same keys as the survivor’s pension: 50% for the spouse, 10% for each orphan, with the share of all orphans together capped at 50% (article 157). If there are several widows, the Code provides that the amount is divided in proportion to the number of survivors.
| Adama’s survivor | Sharing key |
|---|---|
| His widow | 50% |
| Each of the three children | 10%, i.e. 30% for all three |
| Cap for all the children together | 50%, not reached |
The INPS sets the amount due to each survivor and pays it. The same article maintains family allowances for the children: they are paid on top of the lump sum.
One instalment per six months of contributions: the survivor’s allowance rewards every period of contributions, however short.
What you need to do
- Reconstruct the deceased employee’s earnings subject to contributions over the last eight years.
- Check that all periods worked appear on the INPS statement.
- Tell the family that family allowances continue for the children.
4. The employer’s role: declare, settle, support
Death ends the contract. The employer must report it to the INPS within eight days, using the movement declaration required whenever an employee stops working (Social Security Code, article 163).
The employer also settles the sums due to the employee on the date of death: the current month’s salary and pay in lieu of accrued paid leave (Labour Code, article L.162).
What an undeclared employee costs
If Adama’s hiring had not been declared, the INPS could charge Transports Niger-Express with the cost of the benefits paid to the family (article 165). It can also recover from an employer behind on contributions the benefits paid for the unpaid periods (article 213).
Example. Transports Niger-Express never declared Adama to the INPS.
Allowance paid to the family: XOF 936,000
Amount the INPS can charge to the company: up to XOF 936,000
To be added: nine years of unpaid contributions and late-payment surcharges
The file the family submits to the INPS includes in particular the court ruling on heirship, the death certificate, the employment and earnings certificate completed by the employer on the INPS form, the certificates of employment from all employers, the payslips and, for children aged 14 and over, a school certificate.
Finally, the family has two years to act: the claim for payment of benefits is time-barred after two years from the first day of the quarter following the one to which they relate (article 166).
What you need to do
- Send the end-of-contract declaration to the INPS within eight days of the death.
- Pay the salary due and the paid-leave compensation to the heirs.
- Complete the INPS employment and earnings certificate and give the family the payslips and the certificate of employment.
5. A closer look: if the death is work-related
If Adama had died in a road accident during a delivery, his family would come under another scheme: the accidents-at-work scheme. This scheme does not depend on the insurance period. It provides annuities to dependants: 30% of annual earnings for the surviving spouse, 15% for one dependent child, 30% for two, 40% for three (Social Security Code, article 126), up to 85% of annual earnings for all dependants together (article 127).
In that case, the employer must declare the accident to the INPS and the labour inspectorate within 48 hours at the latest (Social Security Code, article 71). Funeral expenses are reimbursed by the INPS up to the limit set by article 137. See also our article Death benefit.
Key takeaways in 5 points
- Check the deceased employee’s insurance period: less than thirteen years gives entitlement to the survivor’s allowance, paid once.
- Check the survivors’ conditions: marriage of at least two years, dependent children within the family allowance age limits.
- Calculate the amount, one instalment of the 156-month reference pension per six months of insurance, then explain that it is shared using the survivor’s pension keys.
- Declare the end of the contract to the INPS within eight days and pay the heirs the sums due.
- Treat a work-related death as an accident at work: declaration within 48 hours and specific annuities.