Talks on 35-hour week in civil service

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Negotiations between the Ministry for the Civil Service and trade unions on the implementation of a 35-hour working week in the French civil service were finally due to commence in mid-January 2000. The government is hoping that a framework agreement covering the three sectors of the civil service (the state, regional and local government, and hospitals) can be signed quickly, but the unions are tying their endorsement of any agreement to a government commitment on jobs.

After successive postponements throughout autumn 1999, the schedule for negotiations on the implementation of a 35-hour working week in the civil service has now been outlined. Following the announcement by the Prime Minister of a 1 January 2002 deadline for the implementation of reduced working time in the civil service, the initial meetings between the government and civil service trade unions were set for 17 and 18 January 2000. These moves in the civil service mirror the introduction by the two "Aubry" laws of the 35-hour week in the private sector from January 2000 (2002 for smaller companies) (FR9910197N).

For the time being, the government has not given much away about its agenda for the civil service talks. It has merely given details about the procedure. The government commissioned a comprehensive report on the current situation regarding working time in the civil service from an expert, Jacques Roché. His [report](http://www.fonction-publique.gouv.fr/lactualite/lesgrandsdossiers/missionroche/plandaccueildurapport.html#PLAN DU RAPPORT), submitted in February 1999, demonstrated both the wide range of durations of working time in place in the civil service and the various types of annual distribution of these working hours (FR9903166F). On the basis of this report, an initial common framework agreement for all three sectors of the civil service (the central state, regional and local government, and hospitals) is to be negotiated between the Ministry for the Civil Service and the unions. This agreement will be adapted to each sector of the civil service and then to each individual branch thereof.

On the content of negotiations, the Minister for the Civil Service has laid down two broad guidelines. First, the calculation of working time will be brought into line with the provisions for the private sector set out in the second "Aubry" Law. Only civil servants working over 1,600 hours per year, ie the annual equivalent of a 35-hour week, will enjoy a reduction in working time without loss of earnings. Second, the government will make no commitment to job creation - the Minister stated that his priority was to modernise public services and that only such modernisation would create jobs.

The unions appear to be prepared to accept the calculation of working time on an annual basis as the starting point for negotiations, even though this method calls into question current days of paid leave exceeding five weeks per year. However, employment is a more thorny issue. The unions - and in particular the CGT, CGT-FO and FSU coalition created in October 1999 - are determined to move forward on the issue of employment levels, calling for three avenues to be explored in order to improve the job situation:

• the reduction of precarious employment, which currently affects approximately 1.4 million non-tenured civil servants (including those employed under the youth employment scheme). The Minister has agreed to open negotiations in response to this demand;

• the overtime which is worked in response to permanent needs should be addressed, as this could translate into the creation of new jobs; and

• the government should make a commitment to replacing staff who leave through retirement (this will affect 43% of the 4.5 million civil servants by 2010).

The government wishes to hammer out a rapid framework agreement. However such an agreement must be endorsed by a majority of unions. Those unions which are less willing to sign an agreement - CGT, CGT-FO and FSU - represent the majority of civil servants and have already demonstrated their ability to mobilise them.