Country guide · 8 min read · Updated October 2026
Hiring in Mali: the work permit, the contract and what comes off pay, step by step
How you hire in Mali without an entity of your own: the work permit and the visa on the contract step by step, moving someone already in Mali, who a role is open to, the contract, the employee test, what comes off pay each month, leave, and what changed this year.
What does it take to hire a foreign national in Mali?
A foreign national works in Mali under a written contract, in French, that carries the visa of the Direction Nationale du Travail, with a work permit. The employer asks for the visa within 15 days of the start, or 30 for a contract of more than six months. In the first two years of permanent residence, the contract is fixed-term. Through Global Kinect EOR, the permit and the visa are arranged without an entity of your own.
Follow the steps for a foreign national
Mali's Code du travail asks two things of every foreign hire: a work permit, and the visa of the Direction Nationale du Travail on the contract. The other steps lead up to them or follow from them.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. The contract | Written in French, in four copies. It states the worker's identity and nationality, the job and where it is done, the category and the pay, the length of the contract, the leave, and the collective agreement that applies |
| 2. The work permit | Goes with the contract. An order of the Minister in charge of Labour sets its form and how it is issued |
| 3. The visa | The employer asks for it within 15 days of the start for a contract of up to six months, and within 30 days for a longer one. The authority checks the contract against the law, reads or translates it to the parties where needed, and has it signed. With no decision within 15 days of the request, the visa is deemed granted. A refusal gives its reasons |
| 4. The first month's pay | INPS and AMO contributions and the salary tax come off the first month |
If the visa is refused because the employer never wrote the contract or never asked for the visa, the worker can have the contract declared void and claim damages. The employer then pays the journey home. Through Global Kinect EOR, the work permit and the visa are arranged where the role needs them.
Move someone who is already in Mali
A foreign worker's contract is always written and always carries the visa. A move to a new employer means a new contract, with its own visa. A foreign national recruited in Mali is not treated as an expatriate.
A Malian employee works out the notice their current contract sets. A new employer who hires someone it knows is still bound by another contract shares the liability for any damage an abusive break of it causes.
Check the role is open to a non-Malian
In the first two years of permanent residence in Mali, a foreign national can be employed only on a fixed-term contract. An agreement between Mali and their country can say otherwise.
The contract carries the visa of the Direction Nationale du Travail and goes with a work permit. A decree can limit hiring where the country's economic, demographic, social or health needs call for it.
Set the contract up right
A contract performed in Mali follows the Code du travail, wherever it was signed and wherever either side lives. It can take whatever form the parties choose, but a fixed-term contract, a trial, part-time work and a foreign worker's contract are in writing.
A fixed-term contract runs for up to two years, unless it is for a set piece of work. It can be renewed at most twice with the same company, the first contract not counted. A fixed-term contract of more than three months is filed with the labour inspectorate before it starts. Where no open-ended contract follows, the employee is owed an end-of-contract indemnity, at the rate a collective agreement or a decree sets. It is not owed where the employee turns down an open-ended contract for the same job, ends the contract early or commits gross misconduct.
A trial is set in writing. It is, in principle, as long as the notice period, and never more than six months, renewal included. It is paid at the rate of the job's category. Either side can end it without notice or compensation.
Pay is in legal tender. Monthly pay is paid within eight days of the month's end. No one is paid less than the minimum wage of XOF 40,000 a month, in agriculture and elsewhere. After three years' service, a seniority bonus of 3% of the category's minimum wage is owed. It rises to 5% after five years, then a point a year up to 15%.
The legal week is 40 hours. Overtime is paid at 10% more by day from the 41st hour to the 48th, 25% more by day after it, and 50% more at night. On a rest day it is paid at 50% more by day and 100% more at night. Night runs from 21:00 to 05:00. The weekly rest is at least 24 hours, in principle on Sunday, and cannot be replaced by pay.
Know the employee test before you engage a contractor
Mali's Code du travail treats as a worker anyone, of any sex or nationality, who puts their professional activity under the direction and authority of another person for pay. Neither side's legal status counts in deciding it.
A contract performed in Mali follows the Code wherever it was signed. A role that needs a work permit goes through employer of record.
Know what comes off pay each month
INPS contributions cover pensions, family benefits and work accidents. They are worked out on all pay, benefits in kind included, and never on less than the minimum wage. The employee's share of the pension contribution is 40% of its rate, and you pay the rest. The employee's share is deducted at each pay. An employer of 10 or more staff pays within 15 days of each month. A smaller one pays within 15 days of each quarter. A late payment has 2% added for each month or part of a month.
AMO health insurance takes 3.06% from the employee and 3.5% from you.
The salary tax is withheld each month, with a reduction for family. Pay at the minimum wage is not taxed. You also pay taxes on gross pay: the flat employer contribution, the vocational training tax, the housing tax and the youth employment tax. The salary tax, the flat contribution and the housing tax are paid within 15 days of the next month.
Know the leave your people are entitled to
| Leave | What the law gives |
|---|---|
| Annual leave | Two and a half days for each month worked, so 30 days a year, rest days included, after 12 months' service. Leave of up to 15 days is taken in one. Longer leave can be split by agreement, one part at least 15 days long |
| Extra days | By service, extra working days: two after 15 years, four after 20 and six after 25. A mother has one working day more for each child under fifteen |
| Family events | Days off granted for a family event in the employee's own household are not taken off annual leave, up to 10 days |
| Sick leave | The contract is suspended for up to six months with a medical certificate, and until the employee is replaced. Full pay runs for the notice period. After the first year, a month at half pay follows |
| Maternity leave | 14 weeks, 6 before the expected birth and 8 after, with her pay on the terms of the Code de prévoyance sociale. She cannot be employed for seven weeks in a row, three of them before the birth. An illness from the pregnancy adds up to three weeks |
| Nursing | Breaks of up to one hour a day, for 15 months from the birth, with no loss of pay |
| Widowhood | The contract of a woman whose husband has died is suspended, on her written request, for up to four months and ten days |
End employment on the law's terms
Either side can end an open-ended contract, on notice given in writing with the reason. A resignation is always in writing. An employer that plans a dismissal tells the labour inspector by registered letter, with the reason. The inspector has 15 days to give an opinion. An employee who disputes the reason can go to the labour court. The dismissal waits on the court's decision.
Notice is 8 days for staff paid by the day or week, a month for staff paid by the month, two months for supervisors and three months for managers, unless a collective agreement sets it. During notice, the employee has one paid day a week to look for work. The side that gives no notice pays the pay for it. Gross misconduct ends the contract without notice.
After a year of service, a dismissed employee is owed severance, unless dismissed for gross misconduct. It is 20% of the average monthly pay of the last twelve months for each of the first five years, 25% for each year to the 10th, and 30% for each year after. An employee who resigns after ten years is owed the same sum.
An economic dismissal follows talks with the staff delegates on keeping the jobs. Where some must still go, the employer lists them by voluntary departure, skill and family responsibilities, and calls the delegates within eight days. Each employee dismissed is owed a month's gross pay on top. They keep priority for rehiring in the same category for two years.
A dismissal without a legitimate reason is abusive. A court can award damages for it. It weighs the length of service, the employee's age and the rights already earned. Where the reason was valid but the written notice or its reason was missed, a court awards up to a month's gross pay.
The two sides can also agree to end an open-ended contract by a signed protocol. The payment under it is never less than the severance the law sets.
See what changed this year, and what is next
The texts read for this guide set no change to the Code du travail, the minimum wage or the AMO rates in the last twelve months, and schedule none.
Common questions.
Does a foreign national need a new visa to change employer in Mali?
Can someone work for us in Mali as a contractor?
Can a foreign national have an open-ended contract in Mali?
Hiring where you have no entity? Name the country and the role.
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