Working Hours and Overtime in Mali

In Mali, your company must comply with working hour and overtime laws – including daily limits, overtime thresholds, and rest requirements – to stay compliant and build a strong employee experience.

To remain compliant, you should define clear working-time rules, track hours accurately, and apply overtime premiums whenever employees exceed the statutory 40-hour week or work on rest days and public holidays. Written policies, compliant contracts, and reliable timekeeping will help you demonstrate respect for employee wellbeing while reducing the risk of disputes and inspections. By 2026, regulators are expected to focus more closely on enforcement, documentation quality, and the prevention of excessive working hours, especially for vulnerable workers and in high-risk sectors.

• Standard Working Hours
• Overtime Thresholds
• Overtime Pay Rates
• Daily And Weekly Rest Requirements
• Night Work Restrictions
• Penalties For Non-Compliance

What Are The Standard Working Hours In Mali?

An employee whose age is 17 or younger has a maximum of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week. An employee whose age is 18 or older is allowed to work 40 hours per week. A minimum meal interval of 30 minutes must be observed by employees who work more than 6 hours in a day. In typical working hours, Monday through Friday, the hours are 8:00 to 16:00.

Maximum Working Hours In Mali

Under Malian labour law, the general statutory limit for full-time work in the private sector is 40 hours per week, usually spread over five 8-hour days. As an employer, you should structure schedules so that daily working time does not normally exceed 8 hours, except where a collective agreement or approved internal regulation provides for a different distribution that still respects the weekly cap and applicable overtime rules. Any time worked beyond the standard weekly limit, or beyond the agreed daily schedule, is treated as overtime and must be monitored and compensated accordingly.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

• Agriculture And Livestock Operations
• Hotels, Restaurants And Tourism Services
• Transport, Logistics And Warehousing
• Healthcare And Emergency Services
• Security, Guarding And Surveillance
• Mining, Construction And Public Works

Managerial And Exempt Employees

Senior managers and certain categories of supervisory or highly autonomous employees may be subject to more flexible working-time arrangements. In practice, these employees often work beyond the standard 40-hour week without strict hourly tracking, provided their overall remuneration reflects the broader scope of their responsibilities. However, you should clearly define in employment contracts whether a role is managerial or exempt, describe expected working patterns, and specify whether overtime premiums apply. Even for exempt staff, you remain responsible for protecting health and safety, avoiding excessive hours, and ensuring reasonable rest periods.

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Mali

Full-time employment in Mali is generally based on a 40-hour workweek. This benchmark is used to determine salary levels, overtime thresholds, and eligibility for certain benefits. When you design work schedules, policies, or shift systems, you should treat 40 hours per week as the reference point and ensure that any deviations are supported by written agreements, compliant with labour legislation, and properly documented in payroll and timekeeping records.

Overtime Regulations In Mali

What Counts As Overtime In Mali?

In Mali, overtime is generally any working time performed beyond the statutory 40-hour workweek or outside the normal daily schedule established in the employment contract, internal regulations, or collective agreement. This includes additional hours requested before or after the regular shift, work performed on weekly rest days, and work on public holidays when these days are normally non-working. To be considered lawful overtime, the extra hours should be expressly requested or approved by the employer or a person with delegated authority, and they must be recorded accurately in your timekeeping system.

Maximum Overtime In Mali

Malian rules aim to limit excessive overtime to protect employee health and safety. While specific caps can be set by collective agreements or sectoral regulations, a common framework is to restrict overtime to a defined number of hours per week and per year, with prior authorization from the labour inspectorate required above certain thresholds. As an employer, you should establish internal procedures that limit overtime to exceptional or seasonal needs, require managerial approval, and ensure that no employee regularly exceeds reasonable weekly totals when combining normal hours and overtime.

Overtime Payout Rates In Mali

Overtime in Mali must be compensated at enhanced rates above the employee’s normal hourly wage. Typical practice is to apply a percentage increase for hours worked beyond the standard daily or weekly schedule, with higher premiums for night work, work performed on weekly rest days, and work on public holidays. You should clearly state overtime rates in employment contracts or internal regulations, align them with any applicable collective agreement, and ensure that payroll systems correctly calculate premiums based on the employee’s base salary, the number of overtime hours, and the applicable uplift for each category of overtime.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Mali

Employees in Mali typically work up to 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week, and you must organize rest periods and breaks so that these hours do not compromise health, safety, or productivity. Within the daily schedule, workers who exceed 6 hours of work must receive at least a 30-minute meal break, and you should also ensure adequate daily and weekly rest between shifts so that total working time, including any overtime, remains within legal limits and respects employees’ right to recuperate.

• Meal Break Requirements
• Daily Rest
• Weekly Rest
• Minors
• Employer Duties