35-hour workweek
Encyclopedia
The 35-hour working week is a measure adopted first in France, in February 2000, under Prime Minister Lionel Jospin
's Plural Left government; it was pushed by Minister of Labour Martine Aubry
. The previous legal duration of the working week
was 39 hours, which had been established by François Mitterrand
, also a member of the Socialist Party
. The 35-hour working week was already in the Socialist Party's 1981 electoral program, titled 110 Propositions for France
.
The 35 hours was the legal standard limit, after which further working time was to be considered overtime
. The law has since been substantially weakened and exceptions have become established.
for further discussion of the health and leisure
-related reasons for limited work weeks.)
The main stated objectives of the law were twofold:
Another reason was that the Jospin administration took advantage of the changes introduced with the 35-hour working week to relax other workforce legislation.
s. According to right-wing parties and economic commentators, the main reason why French firms avoid hiring new workers is that French employment regulations make it difficult to lay off workers during a poor economic period.
extended the maximum number of overtime hours per year from 180 to 220; on 31 March 2005, another law extended the possibilities of overtime hours.
Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
's Plural Left government; it was pushed by Minister of Labour Martine Aubry
Martine Aubry
Martine Aubry is a French politician. She has been the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party since November 2008 and Mayor of Lille since March 2001...
. The previous legal duration of the working week
Working week
Working week may refer to*Working Week , a British jazz-dance band of the 1980s and 1990s.*Working time, the period of time that people spend in paid labour*Workweek, referred to as the Working Week in the UK....
was 39 hours, which had been established by François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
, also a member of the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (France)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
. The 35-hour working week was already in the Socialist Party's 1981 electoral program, titled 110 Propositions for France
110 Propositions for France
110 Propositions for France was the name of the Socialist Party's program for the 1981 presidential election during which the Socialist Party's candidate, François Mitterrand, was elected by 51.76% of the people...
.
The 35 hours was the legal standard limit, after which further working time was to be considered overtime
Overtime
Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. Normal hours may be determined in several ways:*by custom ,*by practices of a given trade or profession,*by legislation,...
. The law has since been substantially weakened and exceptions have become established.
Rationale
(See working timeWorking time
Working time is the period of time that an individual spends at paid occupational labor. Unpaid labors such as personal housework are not considered part of the working week...
for further discussion of the health and leisure
Leisure
Leisure, or free time, is time spent away from business, work, and domestic chores. It is also the periods of time before or after necessary activities such as eating, sleeping and, where it is compulsory, education....
-related reasons for limited work weeks.)
The main stated objectives of the law were twofold:
- To reduce unemployment and yield a better division of labor, in a context where some people work long hours while some others are unemployed. A 10.2% decrease in the hours extracted from each worker would, theoretically, require firms to hire correspondingly more workers, a remedy for unemployment.
- To take advantage of improvements in productivity of modern society to give workers some more personal time to enhance quality of lifeQuality of lifeThe term quality of life is used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies. The term is used in a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, and politics. Quality of life should not be confused with the concept of standard of...
.
Another reason was that the Jospin administration took advantage of the changes introduced with the 35-hour working week to relax other workforce legislation.
Criticism
The 35-hour working week is controversial in France. Generally speaking, left wing parties and trade unions support it, while conservative parties and the MEDEF employers' union oppose it. Critics of the 35-hour working week have argued that it has failed to serve its purpose because an increase in recruitment has not occurred; in their view, the reluctance of firms to take on new workers has instead simply increased per-hour production quotaProduction quota
A production quota is a goal for the production of a good. It is typically set by a government or an organization, and can be applied to an individual worker, firm, industry or country. Quotas can be set high to encourage production, or can be used to limit production to control the supply of goods...
s. According to right-wing parties and economic commentators, the main reason why French firms avoid hiring new workers is that French employment regulations make it difficult to lay off workers during a poor economic period.
Amendments to the law
The Raffarin administration, some members of which were vocal critics of the law, gradually pushed for further relaxation of the legal working time requirements. On 22 December 2004, the French ParliamentParliament of France
The French Parliament is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate and the National Assembly . Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at a separate location in Paris: the Palais du Luxembourg for the Senate, the Palais Bourbon for the National Assembly.Each...
extended the maximum number of overtime hours per year from 180 to 220; on 31 March 2005, another law extended the possibilities of overtime hours.
See also
- Fair Labor Standards ActFair Labor Standards ActThe Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 is a federal statute of the United States. The FLSA established a national minimum wage, guaranteed 'time-and-a-half' for overtime in certain jobs, and prohibited most employment of minors in "oppressive child labor," a term that is defined in the statute...
- New Employment Contract
- First Employment ContractFirst Employment ContractThe contrat première embauche was a new form of employment contract pushed in spring 2006 in France by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin...
External links
Official governmental site on the 35-hour workweek Evaluation of the 35-hour workweek by INSEEINSEE
INSEE is the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies. It collects and publishes information on the French economy and society, carrying out the periodic national census. Located in Paris, it is the French branch of Eurostat, European Statistical System...