TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

France's Short Work Week On Brink

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 4, 2008

PARIS - It's being called the coup de grace for France's decadelong experiment with a 35-hour work week - a policy that inspired both envy and ridicule in Europe and the United States, and even some copycats.

But the short work week proved difficult to implement and was derided by some in government as a "straitjacket" on France's economy.

Now a new law lets companies negotiate more hours from employees. But it's being met with resistance, even from the employers it was meant to benefit, suggesting President Nicolas Sarkozy's reform may do little to boost growth.

When France first implemented the 35-hour work week in 1998, economists wondered: Is this the future of work in the developed world? But instead, the ensuing decade saw rich nations' workers laboring even more.

Even in France, workers average 41 hours a week, thanks to overtime and farmers and the self-employed, who aren't subject to the short week. That's more than Germany or Britain - and not much less than the 41.7 hours worked in the United States.

The Associated Press

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT