A French Business Owner Was Fined EUR3,000 For Not Taking Enough Days Off Work
With the emphasis for work life balance in France, one hardworking baker is paying the price.
By Katrina Khairul Azman — 18 Mar 2018, 12:46 PM
To meet the demands of the summer season in 2017, Cedric Vaivre baked fresh croissants and baguettes in his Lusigny-sur-Barse bakery seven days a week
The 41-year-old business owner has since been slapped with a 3,000 euro (RM14,420) fine for not taking enough days off.
In France, strict employment laws require everyone to take at least one day off per week, even business owners
In a country that still views a day of rest as being necessary, Vaivre learned the hard way that working too hard comes with a cost.
According to Daily Mail, such laws have been enforced to protect workers from exploitation.
Many proprietors in French towns depend on the summer tourist trade for their livelihoods, and prohibiting them from opening every day has cut heavily into their profits
"These kind of laws are killing our businesses," said Christian Branle, the town's mayor.
"You have to have some common sense, we are in an area where there is not a lot of competition," Mr Branle, the town's mayor, said in an interview with broadcaster 13 heures de TF1, according to Independent.Vaivre's bakery is the only one in its town of about 2,000 people.
More than 500 of Vaivre's loyal customers have signed a petition supporting his right to work a full seven days, calling the fine "disgusting"
"We need to allow people to work when visitors need this service," Branle said.
Vaivre has yet to pay the 3,000 euro fine, in the hopes it will be lowered or cancelled.In France, bakers are part of one of the most strictly regulated industries, with the authorities viewing the provision of bread as a sacred right
According to The Straits Times, bakeries are particularly under scrutiny when it comes to these local labour laws since they are known to push their employees to work at all hours of the night.
This has lead to regular convictions for bakers who ignore employment legislation.