Expected to provide a solution to record levels of unemployment, the latest major reform of François Hollande’s five year presidential term was rewritten following demonstrations by both unions and youths who saw the text as being too liberal in nature. The main points include the Labor Tribunal’s compensation awards range that is to now to serve only as an indication, judges who will have greater control over company dismissals on economic grounds, and the individual training accounts are to be bolstered. Parliament will study the text at the start of May but discussions with the Socialist members are already looking likely to be difficult.
On 24 March, following a series of negotiated modifications and some two weeks behind schedule as per the Official Journal, the draft law reforming the labor market was presented to the Council of Ministers by the Minister for Labor, Myriam El Khomri. Containing fifty-two articles “aiming to institute new freedoms and new protections for businesses and their assets”, the text sets about modifying the rules governing dismissals, includes the new right to an individual activity account record, and extends the youth guarantee initiative. “It is a question of building a labor market that is both more efficient and offers more protection,” affirmed the government when explaining the background and motivation behind this controversial reform.
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