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Life is not one long holiday on the beach for the French. They get a lot of time off but when they are at work, life is no picnic
In August in Paris, American tourists are often scandalised by the shuttered boulangeries and restaurants, and signs saying "gone to the beach". This does little for France's reputation as workshy. But it's wrong. Yes, French full-time workers have at least five weeks of holiday a year and some get eight. But they work pretty hard while they're on duty, and are among the most productive in the world.
In 2000 the Socialist government introduced the 35-hour week, to stimulate job creation and share work around. Nicolas Sarkozy claims to have dismantled it, allowing companies to negotiate hours with unions, and lifting tax on overtime.
A survey for the French national statistics office in 2008 found workers put in an average 41 hours a week, with farmers working 59 and shopkeepers 55. The Federation of European Employers found that in France, average weekly hours worked by both full and part-time staff, at 36.9, were fractionally more than Germany or the UK. But the British work more at weekends and during the night.
Spare a thought for what it's actually like in the French workplace, where there is rising stress, work-related suicides and constant fear of the sack. A poll for Les Echos this month found 41% of workers expected they would be out of a job in the next few years.
