France: 35 hours are twenty years old

Text by: Patricia Lecompte

The law on the reduction of the legal duration of working time allowed employees hired in companies with more than 20 employees to work 35 hours instead of 39 hours.

Publicity

Voted in 1998 and then entered into force on February 1, 2000, the 35-hour law was introduced under the Jospin government and carried by Martine Aubry, then Minister of Labor. This law promises job creation and work for more people. At the end of the 1990s, the left was in power and wanted to mark its social footprint. Presented as a remedy for unemployment, work sharing is essential as social progress.

Companies, with the social partners, are putting in place agreements to make the 35-hour week effective. Some opt for a daily hourly reduction while others choose annualization, a calculation method that generates the famous RTT, reduction of working time. The acronym, which quickly entered the life of the French, results in additional days of rest, but not for all employees. The measure creates disparities in treatment. Companies with strong unions negotiate very favorable conditions for staff, while other less well-off workers do not get the same benefits. Some even do not benefit from the device. In the end, French employees are not all housed in the same boat, but overall there are more winners than losers.

European comparison

Some countries, such as Italy, Spain and Poland, opt for a legal working time of 40 hours per week. In the United Kingdom, it is preferable to set a maximum duration of 48 hours reduced to 40 hours for those under 18 years of age. In Germany, it is different, it is the professional branches which determine working time, which leads to significant differences from one sector to another.

We must also consider the actual working time , namely the real time spent each week at work and there, we realize that the French do not have to blush. The European average is 40 hours and 18 minutes.

The French, for their part, work 39 hours and 6 minutes, which is slightly below this average. They also work slightly less than the Germans with 40 hours and 24 minutes, but more than the Danes who work 37 hours and 42 minutes. On the other hand, thanks to RTT, the French have more holidays than their neighbors: 32 days of paid leave compared to 25 in the European Union.

A measure acclaimed by the French

Quite quickly, it appears that the 35 hours did not generate as many jobs as expected. Far from being unanimous, they are more and more contested. According to the Ministry of Labor, a year after their introduction, the 35 hours would have created 350,000 jobs, but according to the OECD they would be responsible for 100,000 destruction.

In 2014, the left said that the 35-hour week did not hinder the growth of the economy, but INSEE statistics contradict it by demonstrating that the 35-hour week made French companies lose competitiveness. After 2002, France's trade balance fell. The reduction in working hours cost the State dear, which, in compensation, granted reductions in charges to companies, ie 13 billion euros per year. Without counting the overtime to be paid to officials.

The debate around the reduction of working time is far from over, the 35 hours remain a divisive subject. Defended by the left as a social advance, they are strongly criticized by the right. For the moment, no government has dared to attack the 35-hour totem, a measure acclaimed by the French.

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