First it was Germany, and now it's France. The New Economist jumps on the new developments:
A story from yesterday that attracted less attention than it should. The French National Assembly voted by 350 to 135 to approve a government-backed bill permitting employers to negotiate deals with staff to increase working time by 220 hours a year in return for better pay. This should gradually erode the 35 hour week in France.According to Katrin Bennhold, writing in today's International Herald Tribune:
To cheers from the business community and grumbles from labor unions, French lawmakers voted Tuesday effectively to dismantle the 35-hour workweek.
The new legislation rescinds the world's shortest statutory workweek in all but name, allowing employees to swap time off for money and to work as long as the 48 hours per week permitted under European law.
It's starting to look like a trend.