Sarkozy To ‘Loosen’ Notion of 35 Hour Week

The French 35-hour work week accused of leading to poor economic growth looks set to become a thing of the past, according to new French President Nicola Sarkozy and his tough agenda for economic reform.

In a speech made today, President Sarkozy announced he intended to work towards ‘loosening’ the 35-hour week, as a proactive attempt to drive growth and expansion through the French economy.

In his speech today, President Sarkozy said that he was reluctant to sit on the back foot and allow Europe to support French growth, instead favouring a direct approach to promoting growth within the economy.

France has experienced stagnant economic growth over the last few years, underperforming against many of its European counterparts. With a campaign for an economy-focused presidentship, Mr. Sarkozy was elected on the basis of his input into the French economy.

Analysts have predicted that the impact of improving the engrained employment culture within France to encompass more flexible working schedules would be beneficial for economic growth, and could help inject life in to the sluggish French economy.

Since his election, Mr. Sarkozy has already imposed a top ceiling on income tax, which was previously wholly scalable with earnings, in order to encourage upper bracket earners to remain within the French taxation system.

Similarly, Sarkozy has altered the taxation on overtime hours beyond the traditional contracted working week, to encourage more workers to work for longer in a bid to promote economic growth.

Thirdly, the abolition of Inheritance Tax has been seen to be beneficial to economic growth by allowing families to retain the full extent of windfall legacies, without having to bear the same fiscal burden as before.

Whilst the new President has faced little opposition to measures thus far, analysts are predicting further unraveling of taxation law may not proceed as smoothly.

Story link: Sarkozy To ‘Loosen’ Notion of 35 Hour Week