I have never been very confident of the accuracy of anything on the opinion pages of the Daily Telegraph, but this recent article by Alice Thomson is a prime example of someone writing about something they obviously know very little about.
Her aim is to cock a snook at the French 35-hour week, a policy that is certainly not beyond criticism. Unfortunately, her grip on reality is no firmer than that of her colleague Boris Johnson. Not to put too fine a point on it, she is talking utter crap. I will take just one paragraph, although the rest of the article is equally non-sensical:
Weekday streets in Paris are deserted at 9am and the Gare du Nord is empty. Everyone is still at home drinking coffee and reading the newspapers. There's no point in being at work at 7am, if it means leaving at 2pm. One director of a multinational conglomerate admitted he caused meltdown in his office by sending an e-mail at 10pm to a client. The in-house lawyers were horrified by such blatant evidence of illegal overtime.
Every single sentence of this is total nonsense. The first two are just plain untruths. The third is based on a total fallacy. The fourth and fifth are tear-jerkingly laughable.
Let's look at facts. I know this is tricky for Telegraph opinion writers, but as an old-fashioned chap I rather like them.
For all practical, day-to-day purposes, the 35-hour week does not apply to white-collar workers (what the French call 'cadres'). And French cadres work some of the longest hours in Europe (the legislation does provide them with extra days of holiday, but does nothing to reduce their daily working hours). A survey in the French magazine Le Point last year (not available on the Internet) found that, on average, a French white-collar worker works over 55 hours a week. This was not a survey of high executives or Parisian lawyers - this is the reality for millions of French office workers. Why do you think French restaurants only really start serving food at 8pm? Why do French theatres also raise their curtains at 8pm? Because everyone is still slaving in the office until then.
So when Alice Thomson quotes her multinational director claiming that sending a 10pm email unleashed 'meltdown' amongst the company's lawyers, either she or he are telling what can only be described as lies. It is a legal nonsense.
France may have many problems. The short working hours of its offices do not constitute one of them.
The Telegraph opinion pages' problematic relationship with reality and blatant disregard for the facts continue apace...
Quite right. It is often overlooked that the trente cinq refers to a very specific, generally more disadvantaged, and, here's the kicker, dwindling portion of French working society.
You mention in passing the increase in holiday time for french cadres...I know many people relatively junior in their organisation, who, as a combination of RTC and overtime, come to 12 weeks of holiday a year. Surely THAT is what is harmful? Positions lying empty for 8-12 weeks every year? At least with maternity leave people are replaced...
Posted by: Katie | 20 June 2005 at 06:00 AM
How on earth can 12 weeks of holiday be considered "harmful"? This is fantastic!
Posted by: Meaders | 20 June 2005 at 07:39 AM
12 weeks holidays would of course be fab. In my experience, though, they are still very uncommon in France. Six or seven weeks is more common, which is very nice but doesn't really make up for the horrendously long hours you're expected to put in when you are at work.
Posted by: Third Avenue | 20 June 2005 at 09:46 AM
I don't mean for the individual. It is indeed jolly nice. I meant for the welfare of the company, which has a position unfilled for a fair portion of the year. My friend, it is true, has to work about 70 hours a week when he is not on holiday. This is why he rarely brings his expertise to bear on the pub quiz.
That said, I think the US paid holiday time is barbaric...three years at a company and you might still be on two weeks.
Posted by: Katie | 20 June 2005 at 12:43 PM
Katie - sorry, I didn't mean to contradict you. Of course, the US two-week option is hardly a model either. Maybe the British middle way?... Better still, a combination of French holidays, and 9-5 UK working hours. That would make for a very happy population..
Posted by: Third Avenue | 20 June 2005 at 04:05 PM