French PM says labour law to be revamped, simplified

[PARIS] The French government will propose legislation to simplify the country's over-complex labour laws and promote more collective bargaining accords at a sectoral level, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Wednesday.

Draft legislation will be proposed by year-end after talks between labour unions and employers, Mr Valls said, adding that he wanted parliament to adopt it by the summer of 2016.

The prime minister, speaking after taking delivery of government-commissioned recommendations on the revamp, said the reform would not unstitch statutes stating that the legal work week is 35 hours in France.

But there were plenty of areas in which unwieldy labour laws could be slimmed down and more room allowed for collective bargaining, among other things by greatly reducing the number of sectors where negotiations apply from 750 now to 100 eventually.

REUTERS