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A ‘Copernican Revolution’ in French Industrial Relations: Are the Times a’ Changing?
Author(s) -
Jefferys Stephen
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
british journal of industrial relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.665
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-8543
pISSN - 0007-1080
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8543.00161
Subject(s) - incentive , element (criminal law) , politics , human settlement , industrial relations , industrial revolution , collective bargaining , state (computer science) , wage , working time , political science , intervention (counseling) , law , economy , sociology , political economy , economics , market economy , history , work (physics) , engineering , archaeology , mechanical engineering , algorithm , computer science , psychology , psychiatry
In 1998 and 1999 France passed the sixth and seventh laws in seventeen years affecting working time. They offered financial incentives to firms signing collective agreements that created or protected jobs and cut the legal working week from 39 to 35 hours from 1 January 2000. Early evidence suggests that while their direct job creation effect is limited they are moderating wage settlements and leading to more flexible working patterns. In this paper I situate the new hour laws within the long historical tradition of state political intervention over working time and argue that this remains a key element in reforming French industrial relations.