Ten years ago today, France adopted a 35-hour work week. How has this changed life in France?

Most workers actually work 35 hours a week. 60% of full-time workers actually work 35 hours per week, as the law prescribes. But the prescription is not a limit: overtime is permitted. 30% of full-time workers put in overtime, totaling in the course of the year an additional 70 hours. 10% of full-time workers fall outside the scope of the law and tend to work more than 35 hours a week.

Beneficiaries of the 35-hour work week are happy. Opinion polls show that a majority of workers –whether blue-collar or white-collar– are happy with the 35-hour system; they don’t want to change.

Workerss who do not have a 35-hour work week express discontent. When opinion polls reveal discontent with the 35-hour work week, the negative opinion tends to come from workers who, in practice, do not enjoy a 35-hour work week. Some professional categories are exempted or excluded from the 35-hour work week: small-business owners, plumbers, dentists. Some people who theoretically benefit from the law do not in practice. This is the case of some clerical staff (who start early and end late but have a 2 1/2 hour lunch break) and is especially true for workers in construction, restaurants, and hospitals, for whom overtime sometimes is not fully recorded or paid. Finally, some part-time workers, who may work 30 hours per week, would prefer the additional earnings and benefits of a full-time position.

French people do not work less than their neighbors. In 2007, the average full-time French worker worked 1559 hours, which is more than the average Dutch or German worker. French workers have also demonstrated productivity gains, doing more in fewer hours.

The 35-hour work week is not a utopian scheme. Some on the left promoted the 35-hour work week as a cure for unemployment, reasoning that jobs would be shared among more workers. This has not happened, and France remains plagued by high unemployment. Some on the right feared paralyzing regulation of business. This also has not happened. Business in France already was highly regulated. For managers, the 35-hour work week increased the cost of overtime. Large employers responded by increasing the HR department’s authority in scheduling matters, to limit overtime. Some employers redefined jobs to avoid the 35-hour work week. Where the 35-hour work week is difficult to apply –in restaurants or hospitals, or in construction– there seems to be widespread tacit agreement not to apply strictly the letter of the law.

The 35-hour work week is good policy. A legislated work week, applicable by default, arguably makes sense as social policy. Given opinion poll results, it looks like the outcome that most workers would like to reach; however, it would be difficult to negotiate individually. Public action makes possible private preferences. (I’d be happy to give credit where credit is due, but can’t find to whom this point should attributed.)