The bill on social democracy (see our article No. 080512) adopted on June 18 by the Council of Ministers also contains provisions making regulations on working time more flexible by granting more autonomy for bargaining at company level. When Xavier Bertrand, Minister of Labor, announced that he wanted to reform the 35-hour week legislation, there was an outcry among the social partners who already negotiated a framework for flexibility in the length of work time. The government, which has adopted a bill going far beyond this framework, is accused of disrupting the recently launched social dialogue dynamics. (Ref. 080516)
Content of the reform. The bill aims at giving more weight to negotiations at company level. While there is no change in the regulations on rest and maximum work periods as well as in the 35-hour week legislation which remains the threshold triggering overtime, the bill allows more autonomy for company agreements (especially in respect of the provisions containing an agreement at branch level) in order to define overtime, its scope, the terms of compensatory rest periods and the adjustment of working time (annualization, cyclical work, modulated part time).
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