A full weeks work
The week's news at a glance.
Paris
France has said a reluctant adieu to the 35-hour workweek. In 2000, when the Socialists were in power, the government shortened full-time working hours to 35 hours a week, in the hope that companies would have to hire more workers. But the unemployment rate remained more or less steady, at around 10 percent. And those who did have jobs didn’t get raises, as most companies froze salaries to make up for lost production. “The intention was to spread work around, but the effect was to spread our salaries around,” said Finance Minister Thierry Breton. The official workweek is now back up to 39 hours.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Exploring Georgia's southern highlands
The Week Recommends Visit Javakheti, Georgia's 'lake district', and meet the last-remaining 'spirit wrestlers' in the region
-
Delivery drivers face continuing heat danger with Trump's OSHA pick
The Explainer David Keeling is the former head of UPS and also worked at Amazon
-
Is that the buzzing sound of climate change worsening sleep apnea?
Under the radar Catching diseases, not those ever-essential Zzs