Focus on France Ian Sparks reports from Paris

EURO-REPORT

FOCUS ON... France

Ian Sparks reports from Paris on plans to ease the burden on business – and on workers.

French workers already have a 35-hour working week and five weeks’ holiday a year – and now they have also been given the right to ignore their bosses’ emails and phone calls after 6pm.

Unions and employers in the technology industry have struck a legally binding deal allowing employees to switch off their phones and laptops during evenings and weekends if they do not wish to be contacted. The agreement includes one million workers in the digital and consultancy sectors, who had complained they were often bombarded with messages from their managers after clocking off.

Companies affected by the deal include the French arms of Google and Facebook – which have complained that the time difference between Paris and Silicon Valley in California means staff must keep in touch outside of French working hours.

Pam Villarreal, a US labour expert at the National Centre for Policy Analysis, insists the new rules could have an adverse effect on all foreign businesses with operations in France. She said: “Within the technology industry and digital consultancy sectors, there’s always something going wrong outside of office hours. If at 10am a worker in San Francisco needs to get hold of colleague in Paris, he will no longer be able to do that if the man refuses to answer his phone.

“This could have a negative impact on business for the US or other foreign businesses attempting in vain to reach someone in France who has gone home and turned his phone and computer off. Workers may overwhelmingly support this, but it will be interesting to see how it pans out in terms of productivity. This deal could also bring the unintended consequence of higher labour costs, as firms may have to hire more workers to deal with issues arising after 6pm. Frankly, it is typically French.” Simpler for business

But while French bosses struggle to reach their workers after 6pm, the government is also unveiling a raft of 50 more measures aimed solely at untangling tax and labour regulations to make businesses more productive and breathe life in the nation’s stagnant economy.

The proposals – piloted by Socialist MP Thierry Mandon and the Woodeum CEO Guillaume Poitrinal – are intended to encourage growth by removing obstacles for companies. Key elements include making it easier to start a business, and to hire workers. The changes will also attempt to shorten and simplify France’s infamous 4000-page labour code, and make workers’ notorious 45-line payslips easier for them to read.

A spokesman for the French employers federation MEDEF said: “We broadly welcome this attempt at streamlining the regulations. France has a reputation for kilometres of red tape that strangles businesses, where time and money is pointlessly spent not on the firm’s core activity but on simply keeping the tax man happy. So it is a rare moment in France when the government does something that keeps both employers and workers happy at the same time.”

The government is also planning on abolishing 192 taxes on firms and individuals that that are deemed to cost more to levy than the 100 million euros or less they each bring in annually. In comparison, Germany has only three taxes that each bring in less than 100 million euros per year and the United Kingdom has none.

Among France’s 192 low-yield earners are a tax on the number of balls in a pinball machine and a charge on cross country skiing. Premises with table football must pay a tax of five euros per year for every ball in the machine.

Finance Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said: “There are a lot of taxes that bring in relatively small sums and serve only as an added complexity for businesses to deal with. So we want to simplify all this to spur business growth and make a dent in unemployment.”

Many French companies have also welcomed new trade agreements signed with China during the visit of the country’s Xi Jinping in April – including signing a rescue merger between ailing car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen and China’s Dongfeng, and paving the way for a large order for Airbus jets.

France also agreed to provide technical assistance to Chinese wine-makers in experimental vineyards and mechanisation techniques, and to aid them with marketing strategies for the finished product. In exchange, the Chinese industry will assist its EU counterpart by organising wine-tasting events in China to promote the appreciation, and sales, of wines there.

Asian marketing specialist Thierry Charpentier said: “The US moved very swiftly to create its bilateral trade agreement with China on wine transactions. They are gradually eating further into France’s wine exports, and their sales to China where wine consumption is increasing massively is a large part of this. Now the French are fighting back.

“France has the advantage of the positive preconception of luxury and quality across the agribusiness sector. The Chinese are very opportunistic. The Americans and Germans have had their moment with China. Maybe now it is France’s turn.” n

“It is a rare moment in France when the government does something that keeps both employers and workers happy at the same time.”