Reform of 35-hour week law under way 

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A bill that introduces flexibility into France's 35-hour working week legislation was passed on its first reading in the National Assembly in February 2005. While the bill does not abolish the 35-hour week, it reforms the rules on working time accounts and allows more overtime working. Trade unions have unanimously condemned the bill and organised a wide-scale day of action to defend the 35-hour week on 5 February.

For some months, criticisms of the legislation establishing the 35-hour working week (FR9806113F and FR0001137F), not only from the governing coalition in parliament but also from employers’ associations, have become increasingly strident (FR0408108F). In late 2004, deputies tabled a bill in parliament amending the basic law on the issue. This bill, seen as a challenge to the 35-hour week, was initiated in response to pressures from pro-free market actors, but does not alter statutory working time. It addresses, among other points, a reform of working time savings accounts, and creates a new form of 'optional working time, accessible above and beyond the overtime quota'.

Contents of bill

The four-clause bill is sponsored by four deputies from the governing Union for a People’s Movement (Union pour un mouvement populaire, UMP) coalition (Patrick Ollier, Hervé Novelli, Pierre Morange and Jean-Michel Dubernard) and aims to introduce flexibility into the 35-hour week. It was given a reading in the National Assembly from 1-4 February 2005. The introduction of this nill by individual deputies rather than the government was supposed to enable it to be voted on more quickly than would otherwise have been the case. The Bill includes measures announced by Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin in December 2004 (FR0501101N). It provides for new options for using working time savings accounts (comptes épargne temps, CETs) for employees, the establishment of agreements on 'optional hours' that would allow an increase in overtime, and the application of an exemption scheme for small businesses. The annual overtime quota had already been raised by decree from 180 to 220 hours a year in late December 2004.

The bill provides that:

• the number of days of time off that can be accumulated in a CET is no longer restricted to 22. Moreover, the obligation to liquidate the days outstanding in a CET every five years will be withdrawn. Days outstanding in a CET can be cashed in;

• it will now be possible to deposit overtime, benefits from profit-sharing schemes, and pay rises into CETsl

• extra days off resulting from the reduction of working time (RTT) scheme for managerial staff can be 'bought out' (ie paid rather than taken off), even if they have not been deposited into a CET. This scheme will only be available to managerial staff, and on a voluntary basis;

• firms employing fewer than 20 employees will be able to pay extra RTT days instead of giving them as days off; and

• employees will be able to work past the statutory overtime quota, set at 220 hours a year.

Major mobilisation prior to parliamentary vote

There have been heated responses to the bill. The French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT), the French Christian Workers’ Confederation (Confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens, CFTC), the General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail, CGT) and the General Confederation of Labour-Force ouvrière (Confédération générale du travail-Force ouvrière, CGT-FO), along with the Independent Federation of Education, Research and Culture Unions (Fédération syndicale unitaire, FSU), the National Federation of Independent Unions (Union nationale des syndicats autonomes, UNSA) and Solidarity, Unity, Democracy (Solidaire, Unitaire, Démocratique, SUD), issued a joint call for a day of action to 'defend the 35-hour week, jobs and purchasing power' on 5 February 2005, prior to the vote on the bill’s first reading. Hundreds of thousands of workers demonstrated that day in 118 towns across France.

Opposition Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste) deputies took up the trade union protests by lodging some 1,800 amendments. They feel that by keeping the exemption scheme for companies with fewer than 20 employees, the government is institutionalising a distinction between workers according to company size. They have also, and primarily, identified a danger of enabling employees to enter direct negotiations with the employer over 'buying out' RTT days and paid holiday. They regard allowing exemption from a collective agreement by personal agreement as constituting a breach in labour law.

Despite the major union mobilisation, the Prime Minister’s determination has remained firm. Jean-François Copé, a government spokesperson and Junior Treasury Minister, stated that withdrawing the bill was not an option and that this reform was to go ahead within the scheduled timeframe. The only concession given was that firms with fewer than 20 employees, which enjoy an exempt status enabling them to pay overtime at an increased rate of 10% rather than 25%, must be ready to give up this perk. In response to the criticisms by opposition deputies and trade unions, the Prime Minister has said that he is well aware of the malaise perceptible in French society.

The chair of the Movement of French Enterprises (Mouvement des entreprises de France, MEDEF) employers' confederation, Ernest-Antoine Sellière, who has always been an opponent of the 35-hour week legislation, stated that 'if this law is passed, we will be seeing the end of the RTT law that has devalued work in our country, been terribly expensive, disorganised the hospitals and diminished France’s attractiveness [to investors]' (FR0502103N).

The bill was finally passed after its first hearing in the National Assembly on 9 February.

Reactions

All the trade unions condemned the Prime Minister’s attitude toward the demonstrations, and unanimously reiterated that the government would have to 'go back to the drawing board', even though the future actions suggested differ from one union to another.

In the opinion of Jean-Claude Mailly, the general secretary of CGT-FO, 'more straightforward action must be taken' to 'increase wages, not working time'. CGT-FO is suggesting that cross-sector work stoppages be organised on the same day in order to force government concessions over the 35-hour week. This view is echoed by Bernard Thibault of CGT, who is also considering sector-level actions. CGT’s confederal secretary, Jean-Christophe le Duigou, has stressed that 'this dismissal of an argument by Jean-Pierre Raffarin is asking for a follow-up to the demonstration held on 5 February'. According to CGT, 'to legitimise this new backpedalling on industrial relations, Mr Raffarin is pushing the slogan 'let those who want to work more and earn more, do so'. The law completely neglects the plight of the millions of employees who want to work more, or even work at all, but who have unemployment, part-time contracts, insecure contracts and fragmented lives foisted upon them'. The general secretary of UNSA, Alain Olive, drew the same conclusion and asked his 'union partners to plan meetings in order to bring about prospects of joint action in the next few days'.

The tone of CFDT, which has high expectations of the next stage of debate of the bill in the Senate, is slightly different. Its general secretary, François Chérèque, is to announce new actions, but at company level. CFDT’s national secretary, Rémi Jouan, emphasises that 'CFDT attaches a great deal of importance to the fact that statutory working time has remained at 35 hours', yet stipulates 'that CFDT is vehemently opposed to employers being able to buy days off in lieu and paid holidays'.

From Jean-Luc Cazettes, the national chair of the Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff-General Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff (Confédération française de l’encadrement-confédération générale des cadres, CFE-CGC), there is no opposition to the cashing in of RTT days, but in terms of increased pay rates, he wants extra days off to be brought into line with those for overtime.

Commentary

The next parliamentary debates on the reform of the 35-hour week are set for early March 2005. Although the presidential commitment to retain statutory working time at 35 hours has been complied with, the promises of consultation with the social partners over the introduction of flexibility into the bill have not been honoured. The government is thus still under pressure due to imminent votes. Members of the 'yes' camp in the vote on the EU Constitution have also criticised opening a debate on such a sensitive issue before the referendum, through fear of generating a protest vote against the government. (Christèle Meilland, IRES)