Bringing An End To The 35 Hour Work Week In France
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in 35 Hour Workweek | Foreign Affairs | France | Nicolas Sarkozy — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Nicolas Sarkozy's efforts to dramatically change the nature of the French approach to work continues apace:
President Nicolas Sarkozy is trying to revamp France's 35-hour working week without picking a fight with trade unions by making it easier and more attractive for employees to work longer.
Introduced in 1998 when the opposition Socialists were in power, the 35-hour work week has been blamed by the ruling centre-right UMP and business for inflation, competitiveness problems, sluggish growth, and a host of other ills.
Past UMP governments have already done their bit to undermine the law by allowing some exemptions, and Sarkozy introduced tax breaks for firms and employees for overtime work -- even before Thursday's announcements.
Read on.
"Everything that goes towards making the 35-hour week more flexible is a good thing," said Yves-Thibault de Silguy, chairman of construction group Vinci, told reporters.
"The idea which seemed important to me was to say that we will raise purchasing power by encouraging work. That seems a good idea as measures taken ... to make the labor market more flexible help us to hire. It is positive."
In a prime-time television interview on Thursday, Sarkozy said he would boost purchasing power by making it far easier for people to work more, rather than by raiding already empty state coffers for cash handouts.
He plans to allow firms to circumvent the 35-hour limit if they reach deals on pay increases, allow employees to choose cash rather than time off for overtime, and give workers more scope to work voluntarily, on double pay, on Sundays.
"Sarkozy opens the way to dismantling the 35-hour week" headlined the Le Monde daily, while the left-leaning Liberation newspaper ran an article entitled "The assault on the 35-hour week" and the government-friendly Le Figaro emblazoned "The end of the shackles of the 35-hour week" on its front page.
Good on Sarkozy. His protectionism notwithstanding, the French President's attitude regarding this issue is most welcome. And once again, let's hope that this is but the start of a trend that ultimately makes France more prosperous. Embracing the free market in that effort certainly will not hurt matters.