PARIS, Oct 5 (AFP) - The length of the standard working week, due to be discussed by the French parliament for two weeks beginning Tuesday, has been reduced by more than half since the last century.
The reduction in the number of hours worked weekly has been accompanied by a gradual increase in the amount of paid holiday granted to employees.
Key dates in the march towards a leisure society.
1841: Children under 12 years of age are limited to no more than eight hours work per day.
1848: The working week is set at 84 hours, with a maximum of 12 hours a day for workers in factories and mechanised workshops.
1900: The working week is reduced to 70 hours, with a maximum working day of 10 hours in industry.
1906: A further reduction in the working week brings the number of hours worked down to 60 with the introduction of a weekly day of rest.
1919: After World War I the working day is reduced to eight hours, with a 48-hour working week.
1936: The Popular Front government introduced a mandatory two weeks of paid holiday, with the working week reduced to 40 hours with no loss of pay. Several exemptions are introduced from 1938 onwards.
1956: A third week of paid holiday is introduced.
1963: The introduction of a fourth week of paid holiday becomes widespread, though not officialised in law until 1969.
1968: The numerous exemptions to the 40-hour working week are removed from collective agreements in the Grenelle accords drawn up after the May riots.
1982: Reduction of the working week from 40 to 39 hours, with a fifth week of paid holiday.
1998: The French parliament passes a law introducing the 35-hour working week for all firms employing more than 20 people, to become effective in 2000.
1999: Parliament debates an extension of the law to all
businesses by January 1, 2002.
You know what they say ... All play, and no work, makes France a France France. Or something like that.
I know one thing though ... Socialism sounds like fun, fun, fun.
No, this could work! I believe that we can actually calculate the best point. If we can continue to reduce the legal number of hours per week that a person can work, we can reach the desired goal of reducing unemployment to zero. Employers will have to hire additional people. So, when we get down to about 22 hours per week, unemployment should be zero. Damn, those French are a logical race! I remember J. Goldberg's mid July column in which he points out the the reason the French planted large trees along the boulevards in Paris was so the German troops could march in the shade.
I think a more important goal would be to encourage employers (though incentives like tax breaks, not punishment for non-compliance) employers to move from a 5 to a 4 day work week (10-11 hour days if you need to preserve 40 hours per week). There are quite a few benefits to this ranging from reducing employer reliance on overtime instead of hiring new workers (if employees are already working 10 hour days, they can only work a little overtime), reduced reliance on daycare (one day less per week, minimum, and more likely 2 or even 3 or 4), an opportunity for more "long weekend" vacations, communiting reduced by 20% (which reduces volume, polution, and fuel and other costs), better 7 day coverage (dividing the week into 2 employees working four hour weeks provides 1 day of overlap between various employees which can be used to cover sick and vactation time), office hours extended beyond the traditional "9 to 5" (more like "9 to 7" or "7 to 5") for things like banks and government offices which never seem to be open long enough, etc.
Would anyone care to note some downsides to this? About the only ones I can think of are a potential for reduced employee productivity after a 10 hour (11 hours with lunch) work day and additional costs associated with not being able to get so much overtime. Other than that, I think this would be a win for the environment (less communting), workers (less commuting time and money, more days off to do things), the family (parents can shift their work to need as little as 1 day of daycare if both parents work), and even local businesses (people can get more "three day weekend"s to shop and take local vacations). It could benefit businesses in making it easier for them to run 6 or 7 day businesses (a four day week would make it possible to break the traditional weekend though some people obviously will refuse to work on Saturdays or Sundays) and to serve customers (they will have an extra day off to visit). I'm really not seeing a big downside to this...
It's FRANCE for crying out loud... they even LOVE Jerry Lewis. Hey, I'm just joking. I love France... been there many times and plan a trip for next year, Lord willin'. What they do in France, well....what can I say except: "Connaissez-vous l'histoire de France?" TRANSLATED: Do you know the History of France? Well? What can you expect?
I once worked under a contract that called for 4 ten hour days per week, and I liked it. I think the key here is consistency; changing the employee's hours without notice is a sure way to cause headaches with day care scheduling, ect.
I think for many people, a 40 hour week would be a welcome change. I suspect many Americans are working much longer hours than that now.
I'm really not seeing a big downside to this...
Me neither. Actually, the long working hours are destroying the very fabric of family life. If you and your spouse get home after 6 pm how much time is left for the kids, for conversation, for friends... Even if only one spouse comes at 7 pm, and the other is working at home (like in my case) it is still tough.
There is a book by Elisabeth Schore called "The Overworked American". I would recommend it to everyone.
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