News broke this week that France will allow companies to re-negotiate a longer working week and overtime rates of pay thus starting to erode the 35 hour week for ‘blue collar’ staff.  That report made me smile as I recalled:

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  Advising a French service company on adopting the 35 hour week   and reducing employment costs;

• The cries, many years earlier, from Germany and France for a level playing field in Europe on labour costs.and particularly stating that the UK should be subject to the same level of costs.

Drive by France to Increase Jobs and Employment

In the 1990s, the French Government with the support of the trade unions adopted a policy of increasing employment via the number of jobs created.   I recalled advising a service company, based in France, on adopting the shorter (35 hour) working week.  The Government was offering financial incentives to companies which increased the number of jobs.  When we discussed the staffing and customer service needs it was clear that it would be to the company’s advantage to employ more part time and less full time staff as that would provide a better match of staffing to services for guests.  The Government officials encouraged us to create as many part time jobs as practicable even if that meant dividing full time jobs into part time roles as the employment statistics would show an increase in job creation.  An additional advantage to the company was the Government financial incentives which boosted profits.

Trade Union Support for Job Creation

The local trade union officials were in agreement with the national policy on creating jobs.  Discussions were held with the officials to ensure that they understood the implications within the company.  Some current full time staff would have their hours reduced and most new recruits would be offered part time, rather than full time, roles.  The trade unions were happy that this would produce an increase in jobs across the company.  The once off incentive payments to the company were noted as was the planned lower overall employed hours and that the new pattern of working hours would produce a far better match with the service needs.

Those discussion were held on the principle that It is better to be clear about the likely effects and deal with any issues before getting too far along the planned route.  In the company’s context, it proved to be a profitable and effective course of consultation and discussion.

Current Opposition to the Erosion of the 35 Hour Week

The trade unions have made it clear that they are opposed to what they perceive as a backward step for their members.  In some service sectors, senior managers are also likely to find that this change will not have significant benefits as it is more cost effective to have a larger number of part-time employees to service customer needs each day at peak times.

However, it remains to be seen whether the opposition by trade unions will gain much support with the economic and other woes that are affecting France and the rest of Europe.

A Sporting Chance v Let Us Increase the Labour Costs of all States

Going further back, France and Germany complained that they were not competing on a level playing field with countries, such as the UK, which did not pay maternity leave nor have fixed statutory consultation periods about redundancies.

European Directives introduced maternity leave and redundancy consultation periods as a means to regulate the costs incurred by states and thus come closer to the notion of a level playing field.  The UK passed new Acts to implement the directives.  One would be mistaken to claim that was a drive for equal rights and family friendly policies as the key driver was the desire to ‘equalize’ the cost competitiveness of states within the EU.

Not so long ago, both France and Germany started to lament publicly about being hampered by labour costs such as maternity leave and redundancy consultation periods.  It remains to be seen whether this will lead to a loosening of the regulatory framework that binds states including the UK.

Perception v Reality

The above reminds us of the importance of the economic and political context in which each organisation operates when developing hr strategies, policies and solutions.   Key points that we emphasise to clients and hr managers are the needs to understand:

• the organisation’s context;
• the key goals and timescales;
• the organisation’s capability and readiness to adopt the preferred way forward.

Failure to do so can lead to wasted time and costs on implementing hr initiatives that do not address the actual issues facing the business or service.   Our approach to working with clients is based on that belief as you will glean from our website and other articles.

© 2016  HR Management Dimensions Ltd.

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