The 35-hour work week came into force in France on a general basis - mandatory for all companies, with exceptions - on January 1, 2002. This measure, of strong political symbolism for the left, was implemented by the socialist Government of Lionel Jospin, who was cohabiting at that time with a conservative president of the Republic, Jacques Chirac.
The bar of 35 hours of work per week is a reference, and from there, except in particular cases, overtime must be paid.
Getting to the 35-hour work week was a difficult process. François Mitterand promised it in the electoral campaign that took him to the Elysée in 1981, at the head of an alliance with the communists. But then the reduction was only one hour, from 40 to 39. Finally, Jospin and his Minister of Labor, Martine Aubry - current mayor of Lille and daughter of Jacques Delors, former president of the EU - wanted to achieve it, after much debate and resistance. of the employers, that Parliament approved the reform in two laws voted in 1998 and 2000.
The French left, especially France Insoumise (LFI), led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, would like to move towards a 32-hour work week. In fact, this proposal, supported by some unions, appeared in the program of LFI and then of the left coalition in the 2022 presidential and legislative elections.
LFI MP for Paris Aymeric Caron advocated for the 32-hour work week in a recent interview with the weekly Le Point. According to the parliamentarian, working less has an ecological logic, since it helps not to overexploit the planet's resources. "With computerization and robotization, we are heading towards the disappearance of work," said Caron. "Not taking this reality into account and not anticipating it is a major political error." For the LFI deputy, the reduction in working time achieved in the 19th and 20th centuries was an advance that should not be reversed.
A few months ago, the French employers' association (Medef) published a document in which it proposed making the 35-hour rule more flexible to "take into account the diversity of situations and allow negotiated fixing of the duration of work at the level of each company." something that raises the rejection of the unions. The employers' organization also proposed eliminating two of the eleven annual holidays that exist today.
It is to be expected that, as happened with the raising of the legal retirement age by two years - from 62 to 64 -, eliminating the general nature of the 35-hour work week would trigger angry protests in the streets.
