On 2 December 2008, the French Equal Opportunities and Anti-Discrimination Commission (Haute autorité de lutte contre les discriminations et pour l’égalité, HALDE [1]) (*FR0605049I* [2]) and the Ministry for the Budget, Public Accounts and Civil Service /(/ Ministère du budget, des comptes publics
During a conference on gender equality in employment held in November 2007, the French Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Solidarity, Xavier Bertrand, announced the creation of a working group on the issue of corporate reporting on gender equality [1] (*FR0712029I* [2]). The group notably
The equal opportunities law (in French) [1], which was enacted on 31 March, is considered to be a response to last November’s wave of urban violence. According to the government, the overall aim is to ‘put an end to unequal opportunities and discrimination experienced by people living in vulnerable
In his New Year address to the representatives of the nation’s working population in January, President Jacques Chirac requested that the government introduce a bill aimed at achieving gender pay equality within five years before Parliament without delay. On 24 March 2005, Minister for Parity and
A bill that introduces flexibility into France's 35-hour working week legislation was passed on its first reading in the National Assembly in February 2005. While the bill does not abolish the 35-hour week, it reforms the rules on working time accounts and allows more overtime working. Trade unions
A national intersectoral agreement on gender equality and gender balance in workforce composition was signed in April 2004 by France's main employers' organisations and trade union confederations. It covers matters such as narrowing the gender pay gap, preventing maternity leave from adversely
This article examines the French situation, as of August 2003, with regard to the implementation and impact of the 2000 EU Directive establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, which seeks to combat discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief
Four studies published in the first quarter of 2003 highlight various areas of persistent gender inequality in work and family life in France. They examine: the impact of working time reductions on family life; the implementation of a new paternity leave scheme introduced in 2002; fathers'
In late 2002, the French government announced that it would abolish additional government financial assistance for working time reductions in the catering sector, thus suspending the sector's collective agreement on the introduction of the 35-hour week for two years. The move was greeted with a
Two statistical studies published in France in summer 2002 indicate that gender inequality is enduring and resistant to change. Gender pay inequality is still a reality and has even been exacerbated over the last 20 years (principally due to the growth in part-time work). Similarly, in terms of