Apparently there are a few countries in the EU who are very happy to have these workers, they have 12 month visas just for that! I think Spain, Portugal and Germany from memory
If youâre talking about my last post Tory. The two I know about weâre not employed in Madeira. They went over there for a month but continued their jobs on line while there. To them it seemed preferable to their small Paris flats during the lockdown.
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re comments about offices and many retailers closing at midday.
Offices often close for minimum of 90 minutes around midday.
What do staff actually do in this time, yes some may go home but for many it canât be worth say a 15+minute drive office and back so just to have an hours at home. I would have thought that most independent retailers (i know supermarkets stay open) would jump at the possibility of selling to office workers and more etc,
These shops could stagger their staff lunch breaks enabling them not to shut. I get fed up with being out then âŠwhoops its noon so everywhere is shutting so I might as well go home.
I know here the ethos is you work to live not the reverse as is unfortunately all too common in UK, (and USA) but French commerce needs to wake up to 21century life!
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A lot go and have a meal at a restaurant, some (a lot?) even get âcheque restoâsâ from their employers so it doesnât cost them much for a 3 course sit down meal which of course would take up much of that time!
One other thing you are not factoring in is the huge cost of employing staff here, and the strictness of working hours. It sounds easy on paper to do something like that, but I imagine the end result would be the need for extra staff. And the additional turnover (not just displaced turnover) may not warrant that.
Bit like the old style luncheon vouchers in the UK. HMRC, as now called decided it was benefit in kind, so taxed itâŠresult quick death of Luncheon V. Does French tax man do so?
Iâm surprised staff wouldnât sooner have shorter lunch hours, which means their 7hr day (French 35 hr week) would finish earlier so getting home earlier.
But they are French (mainly). I donât quite understand why you want to turn France into a non-productive stressed out culture!
One presumes there was something about the culture and quality of life here that attracted you to move. So why complain about elements that contribute to this?
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Quite a lot of people go home for lunch and have it en famille, you shouldnât rush lunch anyway. I theoretically have an hour and a half for lunch. We donât usually work a 7 hour day either, many of us like to work longer hours and have more days off. One of my daughters regularly works 10 to 12 hour days or longer and gets days off as rtt which suits her very well.
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I would second that and I totally agree with and share the thoughts of both @JJones and @vero. I moved to France to get away from the stressed out live to work culture as well as the Sunday opening, 24h supermarket shopping crap. I deliberately boycott Sunday shopping as I really do not want France to end up like the UK.
2 hour lunches are a very good way to catch up with friends and colleagues easily. It allows for a nice break between different jobs in my personal case and reminds me of why I moved here, should I ever forget.
When in RomeâŠ
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Take 3-hour lunch breaks? 
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That would be cool but then Iâd finish at 7pm so maybe not âŠthe apĂ©ro starts at 6pm here 
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I donât want to sound condescending, John, but I think you still have a long way to go before you understand France and how it works (especially for working people, families etc.), itâs easier once you get used to it and go with the flow 
edit : if proper lunchbreaks and the ticket resto scheme didnât exist (UK style) then half of the restaurants, more in non-tousisty areas, would close down 
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working in the construction industry in France for nigh on 30 years .I have never had a 2 hr lunch break.The downside for me of long lunches is that starting after a ârepas ouvrierâ takes the whole team till 15hrs to be back to capacity.
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Many of us also eat together and lunchtime us for chatting maybe workrelated but often not, unwinding and being civilised.
None of this plastic sandwich from a shop on a corner of your desk by yourself in 10 minutes, ghastly.
Obv if someone has forgotten their lunch they will prob have to eat something a bit rubbish and we will all commiserate.
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I do see your point and France may change at some point in the future I know I found it a bit tough when we first moved here and I was expected to pick up feed and take back to school my kids only to go back to the school a bare two hours later to pick them up again.
And that is why the lunch hours are longer than just an hour. Parents grandparents and all family all tear home maybe picking up kids on the way get lunch in the table and then clear it up and get back to the morning activity. Itâs embedded in the system and does create a certain style of life. And any french person will quickly tell you their productivity is one of the highest in Europe. Hour for hour
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Ahhh, so is it great minds think alike? Or that fools never differ
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This will be my third post in a year, am I becoming an addictâŠ
The working hours in France are just one of the reasons why we moved to France. We like the strong labour laws and feel it offers a good balance between working life and home / social life.
Without strong laws it would be easy for employers to simply state employees are required to work Sundays, nights, not take holiday leave etc, etc and the employees either accept the conditions or are terminated.
Some might argue this is the law of the jungle and if a person really wanted to work then they should accept what is on offer by the boss. Also known as the golden rule, those with the gold make the rules.
And, of course there would be lots of employers that would take advantage of that, were it possible, and before you know it only the employees that had a very specific talent or skill would have any bargaining power, everyone else would have no say.
I personally would not like it like that, and all around me are working class people that simply do not want to work on a Sunday, they want to have lunch at home and share Sundays with their family.
How do I know this? Because we talk, after dinner it is customary that the table discusses current affairs, politics, general life, and the overwhelming desire is that things stay the same and long may they continue to live as they have done for many, many, years.
Now if someone moves to France and is unhappy with the âwayâ that French society currently is, the labour laws, working hours etc, then of course there are options for them. They could take up French citizenship, stand for office on their chosen view points and if elected they could try and drive change, or they could accept that itâs the way it is in France and either put up with it or if they really cannot stand it they could return to their country of origin. The point being itâs their choice, no one is telling them to stay or go, only that in France this is the current law and the way things are done.
But to be clear, we like it, we like the âFrenchâ way of life in the country, and I for one hope it never changes while I am still here to see it.
On the subject of working hours and not being told when you can or cannot work. Imagine the flip side of the coin for a minute, pause, take a breath and think for a few mins after you consider this potential situation:-
Suppose you are new to the country, you have a problem with your car, something doesnât feel right when you drive it. You search online and look for anyone that can help you, preferring to find a technician that can speak English.
You cannot believe your luck when you find an English technician, you contact them and they say âyeah I can sort that for you, bring it over tonight after 7pmâ
You are amazed at how good your google search skills are, you tell everyone that afternoon that not only do you not have to deal with a French person (because your own French language skills are not so good) but that the technician will fix it TODAY (tonight) how good are you, huh?
So that night you drive to the technicians workshop, they work on your car, they tell you they have found the problem and after a few hours, give you a bill for X and you are ready to drive away just after 10pm. Before you go you get chatting to the tech, you thank them for âstaying lateâ, the tech replies, oh no, this isnât late, I work for myself and Iâm the only one here and I am open from 7am working till gone 11pm most daysâŠ
OK, so now, if you are a thinker, you are considering what they just told you, the tech that âtold you your car was fixedâ has been working 16 hours a day probably every day, allowing for their travel to their workshop and home, plus their cooking or eating or family time would leave a few hours a night sleep at the most. Would it be fair to say that at times the techâs mind is not fully on the job in hand, due to working so many hours on a regular basis?
And now you get in your car and drive home on the motorway at 130 KPH or along back country windy roads in your newly ârepaired carâ.
Of course this is a made up extreme example, but I am sure everyone knows a trades person of one trade or another that seems to want to work every hour god sends regardless of the potential impact their actions could have on anyone else.
Itâs not for me, I prefer living within our means, keep costs low, re use, grow your own, enjoy life, share good times and bad with family and friends.
So here we go again!
France is not perfect, but itâs perfect for me!
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Hasnât anybody read the legislation or read the convention collectives, cos there a load of perceived ideas being waved about.
The convention collectives are not always respected in full and in some instances that can be a good thing as the employee/employer relationship is a lot better because of it. There is a lot to be said for flexibility on both sides.
In some instances relationships are not so good either because the convention is not respected at all or it is too rigidly respected.
There are arguments for and against in all cases. I have had 8 different jobs over the last 11 years and convention collectives were or were not respected in varying degreesâŠupto but not limited to, the 1st of May not being paid double, well until I arrived that is
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Not respected by the employer and hidden away so hou canât easily accesss itl. The worst offenders being small companies.