SHORTER WORK WEEKS BACKFIRE ON FRENCH BLUE-COLLAR WORKERS
(June 7, 2002, Wall Street Journal, summarized by NCPA)

More than two years ago, France's Socialist government decided to 
micromanage the workplace by trimming four hours off the 
country's official work week.  Now many factory workers, 
construction laborers and other hourly employees complain that 
they are working just as hard as before -- if not harder -- and 
are taking home less pay than they did under the old rules.

Moreover, hourly workers now have less control over when they can 
take vacations than their white-collar counterparts.

The law's main goal was to create jobs and the unemployment rate 
has fallen 3 percentage points -- but economists ascribe that to 
the strong economy and say the drop would have happened without 
the law.

   o   In early 1996, the average French work week stood at 38.9 
       hours.

   o   That year, the government first offered incentives to 
       companies to reduce the work week to 35 hours from 39.

   o   Then the law was phased in and companies began using its 
       guidelines to negotiate exact terms with workers.

   o   By this year's first quarter, the average work week was 
       down to 35.8 hours.

In the past, weekend work for blue-collar employees had been 
voluntary. Now, however, an employee who works on a Saturday 
finds that the company averages work time over the entire year, 
rather than weekly.  Overtime hours, instead of being paid, are 
put into an account that for most employees doesn't result in any 
cash until the end of the year -- and the Saturday bonus, which 
may once have been 90 euros, has fallen to 32.

The disillusioned laborers abandoned Socialist Prime Minister 
Lionel Jospin in the first round of presidential voting, 
signaling the end of left-wing rule. The Socialists and their 
allies aren't likely to fare much better in the legislative 
contest that kicks off this weekend, followed by a final round on 
June 16, observers say.

Source: David Woodruff, "Labor Law Backfires on Socialists," Wall 
Street Journal, June 7, 2002.

For text (WSJ subscribers) 
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1023303605297511960-search,00.htm

For more on France http://www.ncpa.org/iss/int