How labour reform affected plastics factory in central France

information fournie par Reuters •21/10/2019 à 14:09

    Oct 21 (Reuters) - Plasti-Tremp, a plastics maker in central
France, is one of the first companies to have signed a
collective performance agreement under labour reforms introduced
by President Emmanuel Macron.
    The agreements are aimed at making companies more
competitive through bargaining on a company level.  uL5N2723YD 
    Working time at Plasti-Tremp went from 35 hours to 39 hours
a week. The company also stopped fully compensating sick leave
days to reduce absenteeism that was not justified.
    Here is how Macron's reform made those changes possible:
 
    EXTENDING WORKING TIME 
    Labour reforms adopted over years already allowed some
flexibility in the 35-hour workweek adopted in France in 2000.
However, every workers still had to approve any changes in his
or her work contract, said Joseph Tayefeh, head of
Plastalliance, an employer federation for the plastics sector.
    With the collective performance agreement, companies need
only the union representative's approval or, when there is no
union, the workers representative's approval to change working
hours, salaries and worker mobility.

    PAID SICK LEAVE
    The French security system offers financial support after
three days of sick leave. The benefits usually amount to 50% of
the average wage, up to a maximum of 45 euros ($50) per day. But
most private companies have a sick pay scheme that compensates
for the wage difference from the very first day. 
    In the plastics sector, a collective agreement stated that
companies had to give compensation up to 90% of the worker's
salary for the first 30 days of absence and then two thirds of
the wage for the 30 following days. 
    Macron's reform allowed the company to bypass the
sector-level collective agreement. Compensation benefits are now
given after five days of sick leave. The law had required a
contribution after seven days. 

($1 = 0.8957 euros)

 (Written by Caroline Pailliez, Editing by Christian Lowe and
Timothy Heritage)