Assignment
Working hours in France There is much debate in France as to whether improving on the EU Working Hours Directive has been of benefit to France. This issue usefully points out why there are supporters and critics of many of the EU Social Chapter Directives. In 2004 Jean Pierre Refrain, the Prime Minister, and his centre-right Cabinet planned the shortened working week, which was hailed by the Left as an act of pioneering social progress for many of the ills now besetting France.
Originally cast as an antidote to unemployment and a boost to workers' rights, the law is being blamed for pushing the budget deficit over the maximum allowed under the EU stability rules for the single currency. Acknowledging for the first time that France is on the brink of recession, M Refrain has approved a parliamentary inquiry into the damage inflicted by the law. An official inquest into the huge death toll from the August 2003 heatwave has found already that the shorter hours for medical staff left hospitals unable to handle the emergency. While the Left and Right argue about the cost of the shorter working week, which is estimated at more than £20bn, M Refrain wants to restore the value of work and ensure that ‘the future of France is not to be a huge leisure park'.
The idea that a work-shy France risks relegating itself to the second industrial rank is now being widely discussed, with much criticism of RTT (Reduction de temps de travail) as the reduced working time is known. Even heavyweight left-wingers have joined the criticism of the experiment in social engineering brought in under the leadership of Lionel Joplin. Jacques Attali, former chief adviser to Francois Mitterrand, President Chirac's Socialist predecessor, said in 2004 that RTT sent the French a harmful message about the merits of work when they should be striving harder to compete in the global economy. The government is drawing encouragement from unexpected quarters.
Industrial workers are unhappy with antisocial shift times and a restraint on wage demands that were agreed as a condition of shorter hours. Their frustrations, together with contempt for RTT amongst small businesses, were reflected in an opinion poll that found that 54% of the country was in favour of doing away with, or suspending, the law. RTT has proved most popular among white-collar workers in larger businesses and, to the surprise of the champions of the old class war, amongst executives in large companies. As well as providing free time, in the form of longer holidays or periodic four-day weeks, the law has helped to keep down wages and forced new flexibility in France's rigid shop floor practices. M Refrain has backed away from any attempt to rescind the law, preferring to neuter it through gradual measures, such as exempting smaller businesses from having to apply it.
Question
1 Consider the advantages and disadvantages of the 35-hour working week to:
(a) employers;
(b) employees.
2 Why is the new French government and prime minister keen to increase working hours in France?
The response should include a reference list. Double-space, using Times New Roman 12 pnt font, one-inch margins, and APA style of writing and citations.