Do the French work less than others?
[00:00:10]
Hello everyone. I hope you are well. I hope you are not sick. I feel like everyone is sick right now.
Everyone has the flu, at least in France. I don't know if it's the same in your country. For the moment, I
have slipped through the cracks. To slip through the cracks, I think I've already used that expression in
an episode. It means "to avoid danger, to avoid a problem". A bit like when it rains and you manage to
slip through the raindrops so as not to get wet. So, I'm touching wood because I haven't gotten sick yet
and I hope it continues like that. I hope you are in good health too.
[00:01:00]
Today is a solo episode in which we are going to talk about work. Yes, because the year has started,
2025 has started and now, everyone has to go back to work. It is a subject that also concerns daily life
in France, because work occupies a large place in our lives, even for us, the French. I know that it is
not always the reputation that we have. But you will see in this episode that even for the French, work
is important.
[00:01:34]
By the way, before we start, I wanted to come back a little to the survey that I proposed to you at the
beginning of the year. A survey in which I asked you to help us choose the themes for the 2025
episodes. So, I know it was a little difficult to answer because I asked you to choose only one answer.
So, many of you complained that they wanted to choose several answers or that all the subjects
interested them. And there you go, I really wanted us to be able to prioritize, let's say, the themes of the
episodes. So there you go, I forced you to choose only one answer.
[00:02:16]
And to give you a little idea of the results, the theme that came in first place, and by far, is life in
France, society, the habits of the French. And we already knew that. It's true that these are often the
episodes that work well, that are quite popular.
[00:02:36]
Then, the theme that came in second place is French culture, music, cinema, art. So that's true that we
talk about it less often in the podcast because typically, for films, it's a bit difficult, I find, to talk to you
about a film that you may not have seen, because if we tell you the story, it's going to be spoilers, so it's
not going to be very interesting. If we tell you what we thought of this film, it can make you want to see
it, but that too can be a bit difficult to follow if you've never seen it. And then, it can be frustrating if in
your country, this film is not available. Same for books, etc. But still, it's something that we also like to
do at InnerFrench with Ingrid. So, this year we're going to try to do a few more episodes on French
culture and share recommendations with you.
[00:03:35]
Then, almost equally, you said that you liked the episodes on French news, politics. We did a lot of that
last year, so we're going to do a little less, I think this year. Then, the history of France, personal
anecdotes and lastly, interviews with guests.
[00:03:57]
So, I understand, it's true that interviews with guests are more difficult to understand. It also depends a
lot on the guests and we don't always know how the person is going to speak before doing the
interview. So, there you go, that can cause you some comprehension problems. And it's true that there
are already plenty of podcasts with interviews in French. So, that's perhaps not where we have the
most added value. But from time to time, when we find a person who seems interesting to us, well,
there you go, we don't deprive ourselves of doing interviews from time to time. And interviews are also
mainly in our courses. So especially in our advanced course, course C1, The Faces of Paris. There, it's
only interviews. So if it's a format that you like, I encourage you to go see that course.
[00:04:53]
In any case, the results of this survey confirm my idea that we need to vary the subjects, vary the
themes. That's also what makes this podcast strong, I think. And then, I thank you for all your
suggestions, all your encouragement. We are also always pleased to see the comments you leave on
the episodes, whether on the site or on Spotify. We don't have time to answer them, but we read them
all. And there, we received a good dose of motivation to continue the podcast this year.
[00:05:29]
So, I was telling you that in this episode, we're going to talk about work. Sorry, I feel like I'm talking a
little fast, maybe today. I don't know, I drank too much coffee. I don't know if I should slow down. Well,
in any case, you know that you always have the option to change the speed on the podcast player. So,
I'm going to keep going.
[00:05:51]
I was telling you that today, we're going to talk about work, which represents a significant part of life in
France, even if I know you wouldn't say it like that! You probably know this stereotype that exists about
the French, this stereotype that says that the French are rather lazy, that is to say that they don't like to
make too much effort and that they spend more time on the terrace of cafés than in the office. This is a
stereotype that doesn't only concern the French. We also find it for other Latin countries like Spain or
Italy. But obviously, the podcast is called InnerFrench, so I'm going to talk to you more about France.
[00:06:36]
We already did an episode a little bit on this subject. It was episode 103 with Ania, in which we
discussed the habits of the French in the office. How it goes when you work with the French. And it was
interesting because we had the point of view of a foreigner, so Ania, who is Polish. And she told us
about her own experience when she worked with the French. But today, we are going to try to have a
slightly more macro vision. We are going to take a step back to analyze French society as a whole. In
any case, that is what I am going to try to do.
[00:07:17]
First, we're going to talk about the origins of this stereotype, this reputation. Why do the French have
this image? Then, we'll see how much time the French actually spend at work. And we'll try to compare
that with workers in other countries. And then, finally, in a last part, we'll see if the French are
productive or not. When we compare them, there too, to other workers, are the French more or less
productive than others? There you have it, you know the program for this episode. So now, let's go!
[00:08:03]
If the French have the reputation of working less than others, it is largely linked to social protection. It is
true that French workers are very protected. They have many advantages, especially when we
compare their situation to that of workers in other countries, for example Anglo-Saxon countries like the
United States, the United Kingdom, which have more liberal models in which workers are less
protected.
[00:08:37]
And so, when we see how protected French employees are, well we can have the impression that they
are more interested in their vacations than in the time they spend at work. So to start, we will talk
directly about paid leave, vacations. Do the French have more vacations than others?
[00:09:00]
I already talked to you about it in episode 46 about vacations. I told you the whole story about paid
leave. So I'm not going to do it again now. You just have to know that since the 80s, the French, French
employees, have been entitled to five weeks of paid leave. In concrete terms, they have 25 days of
paid leave. And if we add the weekends, that's five weeks.
[00:09:28]
But that is the general law and then, we must also take into account what we call "collective
agreements". Collective agreements are agreements that depend rather on sectors. So, there is the
Labor Code which defines the general law for work in companies. And on top of that, in addition to that,
there may be additional rules which are in the collective agreements. And in general, these collective
agreements, they make it possible to obtain conditions which are even better than in the general law, in
the Labor Code.
[00:10:10]
For example, at InnerFrench, our collective agreement is the collective agreement for what we call
"private distance learning". And thanks to this collective agreement, Ingrid and Ania are entitled to five
extra days of paid leave each year. So, they don't have 25 days of paid leave, but 30 days. That's not
bad! Because yes, even though Ania works in Poland, I decided to give her the same number of days
of leave as Ingrid so that there would be no jealousy!
[00:10:45]
So that's paid leave, vacations. And on top of that, there are obviously public holidays. And in France,
we have 10 public holidays, 10 days when no one works. Which makes a total of 35 days. And
according to collective agreements, like for us, that can go up to 40 days of vacation in the year.
[00:11:09]
So that's slightly above the European average. The European average is more like 30 to 32 days. But
in countries like Germany, for example, well there too, there are 35 days (paid leave plus public
holidays). And the European champion is not France, but Spain. In Spain, there are 30 days of paid
leave plus 14 public holidays, which gives a total of 44 days. (This episode is not bad because it will
allow you to revise the numbers too! Even if I will try not to give you too many figures in this episode
either.) But there you go, Spain is the European champion. France is about at the same level as
Germany. But there are also many European countries where we have more like 20 to 25 days of paid
leave and public holidays per year. So, France is rather among the European countries which have the
most vacation days.
[00:12:14]
And when we zoom out, when we go back even further to look at the global level, we realize that
European countries are rather well off compared to the rest of the world. "To be well off" means that we
have a rather positive situation, that we are lucky, that we are fortunate. We say "to be well off" or "to
be badly off". "To be well off" means to be in a favorable situation and "to be badly off", on the contrary,
when we are unlucky and we are in a rather unfavorable situation.
[00:12:52]
So, I was saying that European countries are pretty well off because when you compare them to the
rest of the world, it's true that in general, workers have fewer vacations. There are even countries
where there is no minimum vacation, like in the United States, for example, at the federal level, there is
no minimum number of vacation days. So, it depends on each company and employees have to fight a
little, I think, to get vacations. And then, in countries where there is paid leave, quite often, it's rather
less than what we have in Europe.
[00:13:37]
So, to summarize, it is true that the French are well off on a global level. When we compare France to
other countries, it is true that we have more holidays in France, but our situation is quite comparable to
that of other European countries that have more or less the same level of wealth as France.
[00:14:00]
The difference that exists, perhaps in my opinion, is that in France, we don't hesitate to take two or
three weeks of vacation at once, especially in the summer. It's very common for French employees to
go away for two or three weeks in July or August. And that's something that's totally accepted by
companies, whereas in other countries, it can be more difficult to take such a long break, to take so
many vacations in a row.
[00:14:30]
And then the other difference too, we'll talk about it a little later, is that in France, there is another way
to get additional days off, which means that you can have a lot more than these five weeks of paid
leave. I'll talk to you about that right after.
[00:14:49]
Then, of course, there is the question of the strike. It is true that we often joke that the strike is the
national sport in France and by definition, when you are on strike, you are not at work. So, it is true that
France has a long history and a long tradition of social protest. We have had in our history some fairly
spectacular strikes that have been very well publicized, even internationally. So, it gives a bit of the
impression that France is a country where workers are regularly in the streets instead of being in the
office.
[00:15:30]
So, you have to know that in France, our tradition is more social protest and not negotiation. Which is a
little different, for example, from the situation in Germany. Because in Germany, from what I know, the
tradition is more to have a social dialogue between unions, employee representatives and companies.
So, these employee representatives, these unions, they participate directly in the company's decisions.
There are more negotiations and compromises, which means that German employees perhaps have
less need to go on strike, to demonstrate to get what they want.
[00:16:16]
So, I'm not going to beat around the bush: it's true that the French are the world champions of strikes.
When we look at the number of strike days per employee, very often, it's France that comes out on top.
But to qualify this statement a little, it must be said that it depends on the year. And above all, it
depends on the governments. There are years when things go relatively well at the political level and
employees are not on strike, do not demonstrate. And on the contrary, other years with reforms, for
example, the pension reform in 2010 and 2023, reforms that French workers did not like at all and
which caused huge strikes and huge demonstrations.
[00:17:13]
But overall, especially when we compare with other European countries, France is always first or
sometimes second in the ranking with Spain, once again, which passes us. Spain, we are in
competition with them both on football and on strikes, you have to believe!
[00:17:32]
But it must also be said that strikes in France are often very visible because they affect the public
sector in particular, such as transport and education. And that, well, affects a lot of people, it affects a
lot of people. And then, strikes in France are often national instead of being localized. Which also gives
rise to large demonstrations, quite spectacular demonstrations that the media like to relay because it
gives the impression that there are riots in France or total chaos, when no, it's just, well, a
demonstration with French employees.
[00:18:13]
And then, it's also linked to a kind of cognitive bias. Because since there is this stereotype about the
French always going on strike, when there is a strike in France, it is very well publicized. We say to
ourselves: "Ah, look at the French, they are still going on strike instead of working!" And it's true that
even we, at InnerFrench, like to joke about it and say that we often go on strike. So it reinforces this
image. But for example, I discovered that between 2000 and 2009, Denmark was the third most striking
country in Europe. And I hadn't heard of it at all. It's true that when you think of Denmark, or at least
when I think of it, I don't imagine that it is one with strong social protest. Well, in the early 2000s, yes.
Apparently, there were a lot of strikes in Denmark. And I imagine that the media have talked about it a
little less because there is not necessarily this stereotype about Danes who go on strike.
[00:19:19]
But when we take a step back from that, we can see that the underlying trend in rich countries is that
people are striking less and less. And that's also true in France. There is a decrease in the number of
strike days. It's very clear when we look at the evolution over the last 30 years: the French are striking
less and less often.
[00:19:45]
Now, we move on to another major pillar of workers' social protection: retirement. Yes, because the
earlier you can retire, the less you work. That's logical. So, until 2010, in France, the retirement age
was 60. At 60, you could retire if, of course, you had worked enough years before that. Then, in 2010, it
was increased to 62. And then, two years ago, in 2023, the retirement age was increased again. Today,
it is 64. That is a reform that was adopted by Emmanuel Macron and his government. A reform that the
French did not like at all. There were a lot of demonstrations, strikes. I think Ingrid did an episode on
this subject, I think.
[00:20:49]
So, today, in France, you can retire when you are 64 years old. And this figure is very close to the
European average, because the average retirement age in the European Union is 65 years old. So only
one year more than in France.
[00:21:07]
The real advantage of retirement for the French is what we call the replacement rate. In other words, it
is the share of income that you will receive when you retire compared to the salary you had when you
were working. And it is true that the replacement rate for French retirees is rather generous, especially
when compared to other countries. Because a French retiree, on average, will receive three-quarters of
the salary they had before retiring. 74% for others. While in other rich countries, we are rather around
60%.
[00:21:52]
And the big difference is that this retirement pension is guaranteed by the State. It's not like other
countries where retirement is funded. No, here, it's the French State that pays your retirement, that
pays you three-quarters of the salary you had when you were working. Well, I'll let you judge what
seems safest to you. Either the financial markets pay your retirement or private insurance, or it's the
State. But in France, we decided that it would be the State, even if there are more and more politicians
who would like us to move to a funded retirement model. But well, that's going to be difficult to get the
French to accept.
[00:22:43]
So, in summary, it's true that before 2023, France had the youngest retirees in the world. People could
retire at 60. But since Emmanuel Macron came to power, this is less and less true. Today, you have to
be 64 to be able to retire in France.
[00:23:05]
And then, to understand the origins of this reputation, I would like to talk about one last point that does
not really concern social protection, but a rather cultural point, that of the balance between professional
and personal life. It is true that we talk about it a little everywhere now, but in France, it seems to me
that we have been interested in this question for quite a long time. And it is something very important
for us, perhaps more than in Anglo-Saxon countries, for example, which favor a more intensive
approach to work. In France, we consider that work is important, but personal life is very important too.
[00:23:48]
For example, you know that we have what is called "the lunch break", the lunch break. So when we
work at noon, we take a break to go eat. And that is something that is institutionalized. It is something
that is set in stone. For example, when you work in a French company, it is almost forbidden to
organize a meeting between 1 and 2 p.m. because that is the time of the lunch break. Because yes,
working is important, but eating well is also something very important. So, there is no question of
sacrificing the lunch break!
[00:24:30]
And since 2017, the balance between professional and personal life has even been guaranteed by law,
thanks to a law called "the right to disconnect". Concretely, companies cannot require their employees
to answer their emails or answer the phone outside of working hours. So generally, in the evenings and
on weekends. This too is to really protect this balance, to say that there is a time for work and the rest
of the time, employees must have the possibility to completely disconnect, to forget about their work.
[00:25:13]
Well, in reality, I don't know if this right to disconnect is very respected because it's the companies that
are in charge of enforcing this rule and it goes a little against their interest because obviously,
companies want their employees to work as much as possible. So there you go, I don't know if it's very
effective, but in any case, this right exists. And it's all the more important since Covid, as you know,
with the rise of teleworking, it has become even more difficult to separate professional and personal
life. We tend to continue working when we are at home, even in the evening, even outside our working
hours. There you go, the boundary between the two has become more porous. So, in France, we have
this right to disconnect to encourage employees to really separate the two.
[00:26:16]
So, now that we have a little better understanding of where this stereotype comes from and how it is
largely true, we are going to focus on the crux of the matter. We are going to get to the heart of the
matter. In other words, we are going to try to see how much time the French actually spend at the
office.
[00:26:41]
You may have already read or heard that the legal working week in France is 35 hours. So, indeed, it
has been true since January 1, 2000, thanks to a law that reduced the legal working week from 39 to
35 hours. So, you say to yourself that the French are lucky because in many other countries, the norm
is more like 40 hours per week.
[00:27:13]
But be careful, "legal duration" does not mean that French employees do not have the right to work
more than 35 hours per week. It means that if an employee works more than 35 hours, these hours
must be counted as overtime. In other words, hours that must be better paid. When an employee works
35 hours or more, we say that he is "full-time" or "full-time". On the contrary, if he works less than 35
hours, he is "part-time". Remember these two expressions if you do not know them, they are important:
full-time and part-time.
[00:27:56]
By the way, there is another expression related to the 35 hours that you need to know: RTT, reduction
of working time. If you work in a French company, I'm sure you've already heard it. An RTT day is a day
off, a day of rest. When someone says: "I'm taking an RTT on Friday" or "I'm taking an RTT on Friday".
It means that they won't work on Friday. In concrete terms, RTTs are a solution to make employees
work more than 35 hours without having to pay them more. Instead of paying them for these extra
hours, their company offers them RTT days. For example, an employee who works 37 hours a week
receives one RTT day per month or two days for an employee who works 39 hours. In other words,
each month, they can take one or two RTT days, or two days when they don't work. This way, when we
calculate the average hours worked in the month taking into account RTT days, the employee has an
average of 35 hours per week.
[00:29:15]
That's why I was telling you that there are not only paid holidays, there are also RTTs. A French
employee who works 39 hours a week has five weeks of paid holidays plus about twenty days of RTT.
So, almost four weeks more. Obviously, this does not concern all employees. But when we take into
account RTTs, then, yes, the French have a lot more holidays.
[00:29:42]
Sorry, I know this is a bit technical. But since we adopted the 35-hour law, RTTs have really become
part of French culture. So, I wanted to help you better understand what they are. They are simply
additional vacation days for employees who work more than 35 hours per week.
[00:30:02]
Another thing to know is that the 35-hour week does not apply to everyone. Of course, it does not apply
to self-employed workers, farmers, business owners, in short, to anyone who is not an employee. They
can work as many hours as they want. The 35-hour week does not apply to executives either.
Executive is a special status in a company. To simplify, we can say that an executive is a manager. An
employee who has a certain expertise, a lot of responsibilities and often a team to manage.
[00:30:38]
So I was telling you that the 35-hour week does not apply to executives. Executives are paid according
to the number of days. If they work 4, 8 or 12 hours that day, it doesn't change their salary. In general,
executives work much more than 35 hours per week. Moreover, when we compare French executives
to their European counterparts, they are the ones who work the longest hours. The same goes for
business leaders. French business leaders spend more time at work than their European counterparts.
[00:31:14]
It must also be said that as in all countries, in France too, the Labor Code is not always respected. In
certain sectors or certain companies, French employees are very protected. But there are others where
they are more or less forced to accept conditions that are outside the law.
[00:31:35]
I'm telling you this from experience, I've experienced it myself. You may know that I worked in an
advertising agency in Paris, in several agencies in fact, because I also did internships. And I can tell
you that in this environment, in the world of advertising, no one cares about the Labor Code. On the
contrary, there is a certain pride in not counting your hours, in working long days. We stay late at the
office to show that we are hard workers, that we are industrious and that we deserve a promotion.
When I worked in an advertising agency, I was young and ambitious, so I often worked more than nine
hours a day. Oh yes, "bosser", if you don't know, is a familiar verb for "travailler". I work, I work. It's
written BOSSER. So, in an advertising agency, I often worked more than nine hours a day. So that
meant work weeks of about 45 hours. And yet, I wasn't even a manager. But since I wanted to climb
the ladder, progress in the hierarchy, I didn't complain that the Labor Code wasn't respected.
[00:32:49]
And advertising agencies are not the only exception. There are many other sectors in which employees
do not count their hours, often sectors that are very competitive.
[00:33:01]
In short, you have understood that even if the legal working time is 35 hours, many French people work
more than that, either because they are self-employed, business leaders, executives or because of
their sector of activity. Moreover, when we ask French people who are full-time how long they work, the
average is rather 40 hours per week.
[00:33:27]
Now, how does that compare to other countries? Well, I realized that it's quite difficult to find a clear
answer because not all countries measure this data in the same way. For example, do they only take
into account employees or also the self-employed? Only full-time employees or also part-time
employees? Do they count paid leave or not? In short, you understand that it's a real headache! So, I
decided not to bombard you with numbers. "To knock someone out" means "to hit someone on the
head so hard that they lose consciousness", but it also means "to annoy someone badly". I don't want
to bore you with numbers, so I'm going to simplify things, once again. And if you want to dig deeper, if
you want to know more, there will be links to the studies that I used on the episode page.
[00:34:26]
At the European level, we can say that France is in the average of its neighbors. The Greeks, the
Portuguese and the Eastern Europeans work two or three hours more per week. On the contrary, the
Germans, the Austrians, the Dutch, the Norwegians or even the Luxembourgers, work one or two hours
less. Yes, despite what we often hear, the Germans work less than the French. And when we only look
at the self-employed, the French are among those who spend the most time at work. And it's the same
for part-time employees. On average, they work more hours than their European colleagues.
[00:35:10]
In short, you have understood that there is no big gap, no big differences between European countries.
But we can still observe that in general, the richer a country is, the less time its inhabitants spend at the
office. And this trend is found at the global level. Obviously, there are exceptions like the United States
or South Korea, countries where the work culture is very strong. But otherwise, the trend is rather in the
direction of a reduction in working time as a country becomes richer. And for once, France is no
exception.
[00:35:48]
Now that we've talked about the time the French spend at work, let's see if they are productive or not.
[00:36:00]
A speech that we often hear from left-wing politicians in France and also in the left-wing media is that
yes, the French work less, but they compensate by being more productive. It is even sometimes said
that if there is unemployment in France, it is because the French are too productive. Since they
manage to do the work of two people at once, well, companies have less need to recruit.
[00:36:30]
To know if the French are really as productive as they say, we must first understand what productivity
is. Productivity is the relationship between a production (a good or service produced) and the resources
used to obtain it (such as working time, raw materials, energy, etc.). For example, if a factory produces
100 cars with 10 workers, the labor productivity is 10 cars per worker.
[00:37:06]
In general, to compare productivity between countries, we measure the wealth produced based on the
number of hours worked. Well, this indicator has many limitations. For example, it does not take into
account other factors such as capital. For example, yes, a worker produced 10 cars, but how many
machines were there in the factory? Maybe that too is important to take into account if we want to
compare productivity between several factories. So there you have it, this indicator has its limitations.
[00:37:43]
But this is the indicator that is used by the OECD to make its ranking. The OECD is an organization
that brings together a lot of countries, rather rich countries, European countries, also the United States,
Canada, some Asian countries like Japan and South Korea. So, well, it really allows us to compare
productivity with countries that have an economy that is more or less at the same level. And it's true
that when we look at this ranking, from the end of the 80s to the beginning of the 2000s, France was
often number one. France was the world champion of productivity, cock-a-doodle-doo!
[00:38:25]
But that's not the case today. Today, in this ranking, we're more or less around tenth place. But we're
still on a par with countries like Germany. And it's true that we often compare ourselves to Germany
because it's a very productive economy. So often, we say to ourselves: "ah, we should do like the
Germans." But when we look at productivity, well, we're pretty much at the same level. On the other
hand, we're less productive now than workers in the United States. But we're still more productive than
workers in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and even Japan.
[00:39:07]
So the takeaway here is that yes, the French were world productivity champions for several decades,
but that is no longer the case today. We can no longer say that the French work less, but that they are
more productive, even if they still remain at the top of the productivity rankings.
[00:39:30]
Okay, I gave you a lot of information in this episode. It was a pretty dense episode, so I'm going to try
to pick up the most important points, make a little summary. Tell me in the comments if it's something
useful or not, I don't know.
[00:39:45]
So, it's true that French employees benefit from a lot of social benefits. There are the five weeks of paid
leave (the five weeks of vacation), the 35-hour week, the famous RTT, reduction in working hours. But
when we look at the figures, we realize that many French people work much more than 35 hours per
week, especially the self-employed, executives, business leaders. And then, these social benefits, they
are increasingly called into question by governments in recent years. So, it's not certain that the French
will still have such benefits in the years to come.
[00:40:29]
It is also true that the French have for a long time compensated for a shorter working time with better
productivity. But that too has been a little less true in recent years. The French remain very productive,
but they have been caught up by other countries. So, we can no longer say that the French are the
world champions of productivity.
[00:40:56]
Finally, another question that I didn't have time to address in this episode, but which is quite interesting,
is: do the French like their jobs? Do they like working? There is a reference survey on this question. I
will also put it on the episode page. And this survey shows that about three-quarters of French workers
say they are satisfied with their jobs. And in particular the self-employed who even say they are very
satisfied. So, we see that the French are not anti-work. In general, the French are satisfied with their
jobs.
[00:41:34]
And in another benchmark survey that compares values between Europeans, we also see that the
French more often declare that their work has an important place in their life than their European
neighbors. In other words, for the French, the place of work seems more important, proportionally, than
in other European countries. In any case, they are above the European average.
[00:42:00]
Well, that's all for today. Thank you for listening to the episode until the end and congratulations
because it was quite dense! I hope that your ideas are a little clearer regarding the relationship of the
French to their work. Thank you for your attention and we'll see you very soon. Ciao.
