French overtime law has shaky anniversary

PARIS, May 20 (UPI) -- A non-supportive statement on the 10th anniversary of France's 35-hour work week shook through the halls of government, political observers in Paris said.

Senior leader of the Union for a Popular Movement Patrick Devedjian started the ball rolling by declaring his political party would "forcefully request the definitive dismantlement of the 35-hour work week," the International Herald Tribune reported Tuesday.

Devedjian's deputy Jean Pierre Raffarin then provided political damage control by stating the governing party didn't "want to touch the legal work limit."

Labor Minister Xavier Bertrand and President Nicolas Sarkozy then weighed in, defending the 35-hour work week, which has been popular among the French electorate but reduces France's ability to compete in a global marketplace, analysts said.

The controversial law, mandating weekly overtime pay of 25 percent above normal wages after 35 hours has been frequently debated. In the most recent amendment Sarkozy, who once called the law a disaster, exempted companies and employees from overtime taxes, costing the government $11 billion a year.

Many have decried the law, but the 35-hour limit, which began in 1998 with a mandate that salaries not be reduced, has become a sacred cow among French voters, the report said.