35-hour week agreement suspended in catering sector

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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 storm of protest from the CFDT and CGT trade unions, which had signed the agreement.

In late 2002, the Secretary of State for Tourism, Léon Bertrand, announced a government plan to: end additional government financial assistance for working time reductions in the catering sector (hotels, cafés and restaurants), thus imposing an immediate two-year freeze on the implementation of the collective agreement introducing the 35-hour working week in the industry; cut VAT on meals to 5.5% in 2004; and introduce a cut in social security contributions in the sector, as part of the current process of harmonising the various levels of the SMIC national minimum wage (FR0209105F). A subsequent decree endorsed the decision freezing the agreement on the reduction of working time in catering, which covers approximately 650,000 employees.

The sectoral collective agreement on the implementation of the 35-hour working week in catering was concluded on 15 June 2001 (FR0107166N). On the trade union side, it was signed by the commerce and services federations affiliated to the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT), and the General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail, CGT). The signatory employers’ organisations were the French Association of Hotelliers (Syndicat français de l’hôtellerie, SFH) and the National Association of Café Operators (Syndicat national des limonadiers, SNLRH), which are now merged in Synhorcat. With the normal working week standing at 43 hours in the sector, the 'Aubry' 35-hour week legislation (FR0001137F) provided financial assistance (through reductions in social security contributions) only for a working time cut to 39 hours a week. The two employers’ associations had made reducing the working week further from 39 to 35 hours conditional (for those firms starting from the previous 43-hour week) on additional government assistance. This additional assistance was granted and the agreement provided for the phased-in implementation of the 35-hour week, to cover all employees by 31 December 2006. The Association of Hotel Trades (Union des métiers de l'industrie hôtelière, UMIH), another employers’ organisation, criticised the deal and refused to sign it.

As a result of the government's suspension of the agreement on the reduction of working time, the situation in the catering sector, as of 1 January 2003, was as follows: a 39-hour week in companies with over 20 employees; a 41-hour week in companies with under 20 employees; and a 37-hour week for firms which had a 39-hour week prior to the 2001 agreement.

André Daguin, the president of UMIH, applauded the freeze and Jacques Mathivat, the president of Synhorcat, stated that the move was only a pause in the process, since bringing the sector into line with others is inevitable and necessary. However, the unions which had signed the 2001 agreement, CGT and CFDT, reacted vigorously to the decision. Patrick Brody of the CGT-affiliated commerce and services federation, in an interview with the Le Monde newspaper (on 9 December 2002) stated that 'the consequences for employees are disastrous. Instead of progressively bringing employees into line with the workforce as a whole, the government has created a patchwork of working weeks of 41 hours, 39 hours and 37 hours with only a tiny minority at 35 hours.' The national secretary of the CFDT-affiliated services federation, Johanny Ramos, also expressed his dissatisfaction.

Any future negotiations on the reduction of working time in catering could be tricky since they would be based on a new consultation process, for which the procedures have yet to be set up. In addition, other issues relating to this sector, such as the implementation of the night work provisions os the EU working time Directive (93/104/EC), have yet to be discussed. As for the government’s promise to reduce the VAT rate in the sector, it remains subject to the approval of other EU Member States.