The French government will unveil a labour reform on Wednesday that falls short of initial ambitions and angers both employers' groups and trade unions. Initially billed as a reform that would spur job creation in a moribund market by simplifying rules on worker representation, the law will cut some red tape without making any major changes.
"The text is incomplete and unbalanced," the main employers' group MEDEF said, calling it "a collection of half-hearted reforms." Employers are unhappy that the draft law falls short on plans to lift rules that oblige them to pay for in-house works councils and health and safety committees once they hire their 50th worker.
While they will be allowed to merge some of these committees and have them meet less often, none of the thresholds are to be scrapped and a new form of worker representation will be put together for firms with fewer than 50 staff, a draft of the law seen by Reuters shows. Most labour unions, while they welcome some steps, say the law weakens workers' rights and protection. The government "is trying to bypass labour unions," Force Ouvriere said.
Reforming the labour market is one of the European Commission's key demands for France, while the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said this month that hire and fire reforms should be a priority in a country where unemployment remains above 10 percent.
The government has said more labour reforms will come. Wednesday's bill will include a reform of the back-to-work scheme, which is to be extended to people under the age of 25, President Francois Hollande said on Sunday, adding reforms aimed at creating jobs were his top priority. Hollande had initially asked employers' groups and labour unions to jointly agree on a reform of labour relations by end-2014 but they failed to reach a deal, prompting the government to prepare this draft law instead.
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