13.10.09

working in france

Returning to my former home after several years working in England, I am struck by how at odds with the rest of the EU their working culture is. France is famous for its supposed 35 hour work week, and Sarkozy has faced tremendous opposition by suggestion that workers should be allowed to work more- if they want to. This world of professional laziness does exist- I have a friend who works for la poste, and she really does work 35 hours a week, get 6 weeks of holiday, lunch vouchers and an incredible pension plan. Looking at her, any Brit could only be but jealously snide. Yet alongside this workers’ paradise exists a separate reality: the small and successful private sector. It is a scary place. France has a few truly successful international companies that seem to think the only way to maintain their success is by treating their employees like slaves. Every time I visit our Paris office, I am shocked. Every one is at their desk by 9am and they stay there until 10pm or later. They still legally get several weeks holiday, but they often refuse to take it because of pressure from management. No one in Britain would put up with the working conditions such French employees endure, nor would any Brit tolerate the often harsh and disrespectful manner in which French bosses treat their inferiors. The contrast here between the private and public sector is too great to be healthy, in fact it appears dangerous. As I look at the newspapers, the scandal rages over the suicides at France telecom: the company was state owned until a few years ago when it was privatised and new management brought in. Since then the suicide rate has soared in the company, with over 25 deaths in the past year alone. Many took place actually on the job, and many left letters citing their working conditions as the reason.
No one should lose their mental health over a job. Yet if France is to address this issue, it will have to start by recognising there is a gulf of incomprehensible proportions between national rhetoric and corporate reality.

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