"When the French clock off at 6pm, they really mean it"
"
Just in case you weren't jealous enough of the French already, what with their effortless style, lovely accents and collective will to calorie control, they have now just made it illegal to work after 6pm."
Well, sort of. Après noticing that the ability of bosses to invade their employees' home lives via smartphone at any heure of the day or night was enabling real work hours to extend further and further beyond the 35-hour week the country famously introduced in 1999, workers' unions have been fighting back. Now employers' federations and unions have signed a new, legally binding labour agreement that will require staff to switch off their phones after 6pm.
Under the deal, which affects a million employees in the technology and consultancy sectors (including the French arms of Google, Facebook, Deloitte and PwC), employees will also have to resist the temptation to look at work-related material on their computers or smartphones – or any other kind of malevolent intrusion into the time they have been nationally mandated to spend on whatever the French call la dolce vita. And companies must ensure that their employees come under no pressure to do so. Thus the spirit of the law – and of France – as well as the letter shall be observed.
the guardian
16 comments:
Well, George Marshall never believed in making a decision after 4, but I have the feeling this is just another blow for mediocrity.
Let's hope that rule excludes ambulance drivers and firemen.
Heh heh. That sounds a lot like the reasons I gave for refusing a Blackberry phone before I retired. I already had a DOD cell phone and DOD laptop computer at home, and I just couldn't imagine any real utility in the "smart" device. What? I'm to carry it in to the bathroom whilst I take a dump so's I can read a text or email? Uh, don't think so...voice mail works fine even on the old cell phones. And..my computer is at my desk, not in the loo.
The French are insane. I still love em tho.
The streets of Paree are impassable with poodle pooh! Aux armes, citoyens!!!
Say Bo!
poop, I mean to outburst, c'est si bon!
Because you know what I found? People who are hurting working long unGodly hours. That's what.
Just yesterday this happened. I didn't want to go shopping for supplies. I'm lazy and do not like that prosaic activity so I took on a case of agoraphobia until I completely ran out and was forced to. So shopping late at night when people should not be working. It's inhuman. But there they are keeping things sort of 1/2 opened while restocking and such. Items covered, lights cut back, dark patches all around. Only one checkout guy the rest automatic. I had a lot of stuff and noticed the guy protecting his back. A big guy. Football player big. His posture is wrong. He is starkly different race than me, a fact impossible to ignore in this 21st Century post-racial American scene. I bagged my own things, that is how I noticed, it was possible to keep up, easily, an that is not usual. He is slow. He didn't respond to anything I said. A difficult case. I sensed he was not so happy. The whole checkout process longer than needed and uncomfortable, and I bagged.
We're done. I'm paying. "How's your back?"
"TERRIBLE! That obvious?"
"No. You're hiding it well but it looks like you're having trouble."
The floodgate opened. He spilled out the problem with his back. Now we're done and just standing there talking. I told him about the card I just used being rejected, a previous ordinary purchase triggering the alert and having to prove I am who I am to clear it answering personal questions, the heart bleed virus, internet purchase in general and so on at length, me with my cart full just standing there talking. He became exceedingly personable and willing to share intimate details about family life, with me, random person who asked about his well being. An that is key right there, I think, "How are you doing?" and really mean it with something specific. This violates white-people training. That means, any little thing, any sign, any tiny indication, say, a bandage, a bandaid, a brace, knee support, is signal to address something personal and opens the door usually kept closed. The door that gets opened is to unexplored space. This happens with frequency. Reliable regularity. In each case I fail to go further. That is as far as I go. I sense I could if I wanted, but pull back instead. That may be about to change.
Oh hours, RIGHT ARM!
This was a subplot of the recent Muppet Movie. A CIA and French Interpol agent were working together to help solve the caper. The French guy kept stopping at 5, or stating that it was time for his 6 week vacation, and so on. Funny stuff.
France ... economic world power.
Ok kids, it's five o clock. Push in your chairs.
six o clock - sorry.
Chip, you give me hope.
You give me hope.
A conservative/libertarian recently said something like "Work twice as hard, be four times as nice."
Chip still works hard after 6 although being nice probably comes naturally.
Chip Ahoy said ...
... that is key right there, I think, "How are you doing?" and really mean it with something specific. This violates white-people training.
I guess I wasn't raised "white" then :-)
I seem to have always managed in my life to live among persons not like me exactly. In some cases very much different, languages and all. I have found, as you did in the story, that a sincere question is usually met with interest, and a smile usually garners one in return. Not always, but more often than not.
I'm an arrogant SOB but I survived in far away places, and right here as well, by being humble, showing humility and being able to laugh at myself.
Go figure.
The Guardian has now amended the piece with this:
"This article was amended on 11 April 2014. An earlier version stated that the labour deal would affect 'a million employees' and require staff 'to switch off their phones after 6pm'. The deal obliges staff to 'disconnect' from work calls and emails after working hours to ensure they receive the full minimum rest periods already mandated in French employment regulations but there is no particular time at which they are required to do so. While the deal was signed by unions representing 1 million employees, it will affect only 250,000 workers directly."
I told this story on my blog so I apologize if you read it there.
Both of my UPS drivers were fired the day and night guys. They were part of the 250 UPS guys that got fired after walking out in a wild cat strike at the Queens facility. My wife was very upset because of the effect on their families and I was very upset because I lost my trained monkeys who I have been tipping for seven years to deliver my shit.
But the main Teamsters executives got involved and they only got fines and a suspension. The union claims a victory but the guys tell a different story. They are not going to do that again. The drivers that didn't walk out kept their jobs. We have to see if the guys who got suspended will get the same routes. It remains to be seen how this shakes out.
But business is different now. There are ten people for every job. So you have to watch your ass.
This is the story of the strike.
My substitute driver told me that this guy was an idiot and the guys who walked out were morons for supporting him because he was a rabble rouser and malcontent who was always starting shit with management. Of course this guy will be considered a scab so it will be like they were replacement players and shit.
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