PARIS (AP) – France’s government delayed plans to water down the country’s 35-hour workweek on Monday after backlash among Socialists, the far left and unions who fear reforming the stringent labor code will diminish workers’ rights – and not the unemployment rate.
The highly unpopular Socialist President Francois Hollande has pledged to run for re-election next year only if France’s persistent 10 percent unemployment rate drops. But Hollande’s plans to streamline the labor code, and provide ways for employers to organize alternative workweeks of up to 60 hours, has met fierce resistance from the left.
French reality is already there. Even government statistics show French employees work an average of 39 hours weekly, labor code notwithstanding. But the 35-hour week imposed in 2000 by a Socialist majority is widely viewed as a legislative cornerstone of the left, and Hollande has failed to rally even his own Socialists to his side.
The prime minister on Monday announced that the bill would be delayed from March 9 to March 24 to allow for more negotiations with leftist rebels, unions and employers’ organizations.
The proposed bill technically maintains the 35-hour workweek, but allows companies to organize alternative working times, up to a 48-hour workweek and 12 hours per day. In case of “exceptional circumstances,” employees could work up to 60 hours a week.