France
I'm inspired to rant after reading a comment on someone else's blog. The gist of it was that France will never exceed American economic output as long as it has silly little rules like the 35-hour working week. This argument is irrelevant because France is a much smaller country than the US, but I shall proceed to hold forth anyway.
The information from the legal eagles (see link above) is all very well, but the reality is a little different. I work about 45 hours on average in France. Now, I am technically legally exempt from the 35-hour restriction since I a) am an 'intern' and b) work for the Irish government. However, I have a friend who probably works closer to 60 hours per week. He's a French taxpayer (and by no means 'senior management'), therefore he's subject to French employment law, but he still works waaaaay over the 35-hour limit.
This employment rule is one of the many perplexing aspects of life in a country with such an interventionist government culture. I do find the endless France bashing a bit annoying, though. Its critics rarely refer to the many examples of French economic success - look at L'Oréal, Carrefour, Renault, Peugeot-Citroën, etc. These are massively successful conglomerates with finely honed business models. It's all too easy to glibly write France off as a basket case without seeing the bigger picture. Look at the health system, which is among the world's best and infinitely better than that of the US. The French also have public transport down to a fine art. These are obvious examples, and there is an awful lot wrong with France and French society, but given the choice I'd live here over America.
The information from the legal eagles (see link above) is all very well, but the reality is a little different. I work about 45 hours on average in France. Now, I am technically legally exempt from the 35-hour restriction since I a) am an 'intern' and b) work for the Irish government. However, I have a friend who probably works closer to 60 hours per week. He's a French taxpayer (and by no means 'senior management'), therefore he's subject to French employment law, but he still works waaaaay over the 35-hour limit.
This employment rule is one of the many perplexing aspects of life in a country with such an interventionist government culture. I do find the endless France bashing a bit annoying, though. Its critics rarely refer to the many examples of French economic success - look at L'Oréal, Carrefour, Renault, Peugeot-Citroën, etc. These are massively successful conglomerates with finely honed business models. It's all too easy to glibly write France off as a basket case without seeing the bigger picture. Look at the health system, which is among the world's best and infinitely better than that of the US. The French also have public transport down to a fine art. These are obvious examples, and there is an awful lot wrong with France and French society, but given the choice I'd live here over America.