28th May is a "ferié" but its not "chomée" - which means that it's a holiday but you have to work (and without being paid I add). Xmas day, New Years day, 11 Nov and 14 July all on weekends - there's never a year when all the holidays equate to days off.
The 35 hour week, which transformed FR industrial performance for the better (productivity & profits), has been seriously weakened and it's more than 10 years since a company was prosecuted (at least visibly) for making their workers work for more than 48hrs a week. In any case, in a country where overtime is rarely paid, nobody bothers to count their hours anyway. This actually explains the FR "productivity miracle" of the last 12 years - we're working the same or slightly more than before but only getting paid for a flat 35hs (+ 1 day free per year). I'm not complaining about FR, after all it pays for our enviable social and economic model - but the UK could do just as well if people moved on from their early 1980s complacency and realised that they have to up their game a little bit. I've worked for 4 major international companies since the "35 hr week" and it's still embarassing going to the UK with French colleagues and hanging about for an hour waiting for people to turn up at 9, only for them to all bugger off again at 5. Damian On Mon, May 28, 2012 at 8:01 PM, Alan Edgar <[email protected]> wrote: > Not sure where you get 6 from, Damian ! > There are 4 this month alone (1st, 8th, 17th, 28th) and when you add those > to Xmas Day, New Years Day, Easter Monday, All Saints Day (1/11), Armistice > Day (11/11), Bastille Day (14/7) and Assumption (15/8) I make it 11. > > Even as a FOTL (Francophile on the list) those holidays plus the 35 hour a > week contracts French government workers enjoy means the question should > actually be: > > Are the French just bloody workshy ? > Cheers, > > Al > > ------- > Date: Mon, 28 May 2012 11:36:34 +0200 > From: Damian Walsh <[email protected]> > To: leedslist <[email protected]> > > To change the subject - no wonder the UK is in double-dip recession. I've > just seen that there are 9 public holidays in England this year. 9!! that's > 3 more than here in France, and France has the world's highest productivity > to justify its 6 public holidays. Are the English just bloody workshy? > > Damian > > ------------ > > > _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] PETE CASS (1962 - 2011) Rest In Peace Mate
