With Paris playing host to this year’s Summer Olympic Games, all eyes are on the French. The U.S. and France have had a fraught and complicated relationship for centuries, but we Americans can’t deny France’s hold on sophistication and aspiration. Fashion, cuisine, champagne, wine, perfume… if it’s French, it’s synonymous with luxury.
But how exactly are the French paying for all this opulence? Especially given what else they’re famous for – an early retirement age and (mythical) 35-hour workweek?
American and French work cultures are practically polar opposites. Americans, known for being workaholics (although perhaps not because they want to be, but rather because they have to be in order to survive), tend to think the French are lucky, lazy, and apathetic towards work when the truth is they do care. A LOT. That’s why they’re quick to rally around and strike on behalf of mistreated employees. They know racial discrimination is bad for business, and they’re working to increase access to skilled jobs and the overall employment rate for women and other marginalized groups.
All this reveals an unavoidable truth: when it comes to how we work, Americans could benefit greatly if the government adopted a perspective or two from the French. Here are a few work culture lessons:
In 2017, France made workers everywhere do a spit-take by enacting a law to protect workers from after-hours communication. Known as The Right to Disconnect, the law is intended to protect employees from being overworked and prevent burnout (which, in case you haven’t heard, is quite costly for businesses). Enterprises with 50 or more employees must define when “office hours” begin and where they end so that bosses don’t overstep.
Contrary to popular belief, the French are notorious workaholics, but they still scratch their heads over Americans’ inability to “unplug” from work during after-hours. For Americans, an ever-present pull to be faster, stronger, and better is baked into our work culture. That may be why work-life balance can feel like more of an elusive ideal than a standard of living.
Employees’ work meals are subsidized, and companies must either have a cafeteria available for employees to use or provide meal vouchers (“ticket restos”). Widely accepted by restaurants and some grocery stores, the vouchers are generally good for $9 each. Some restaurants will offer prix fixe meals for the exact cost of the vouchers.
Care to wash your meal down with a glass of wine? Pas de problème! It’s socially acceptable to imbibe during a French workday.
If going on strike is almost a French national pastime, then vacation is a close second. All of France is entitled to five weeks of paid vacation time to spend whenever and however they choose each year. They also get time off for national holidays.
Since long work hours can impair personal health, jeopardize safety, and increase stress, leisure time is necessary to stay healthy. The OECD findings acknowledge that government and business leaders should play a more prominent role by encouraging a supportive and flexible work culture in America.
While lots of companies offer generous PTO policies and say they want employees to take care of themselves, why is it so hard for employees to take time off? While well-meaning policies offer part of a solution, American workers are conditioned to view long periods off (i.e., more than two weeks) as overly indulgent.
“We lock up our homes, we lock up our cars... but when it comes to boundaries for our personal well-being, we just give it away. You know: just come in, take it, and rob me.” The chief wellbeing officer is a new, much-needed role to tackle the growing challenge of professional burnout.
When President Emmanuel Macron told French workers that they’d need to clock in for two more years before retiring (they still have one of the earliest retirement ages in the developed world), protesters took to the streets.
In France, retirement is more than just a stage of life. Introduced at the end of World War II, the country’s pension program was intended to heal a fractured country through financial interdependence.
The adage about working to live is at the core of French work culture. They center their lives around their families and personal lives, and work is just a means to that end.
Unlike most Americans, the French don’t see their career as their identity, and they will rarely talk about what they do for work when they’re out at a party or social event. If you ask, you may offend someone. That’s not to say the French don’t value ambition or hard work– they just don’t think it’s their most engaging quality.
Not having a job feels equally as defining, as I learned this past spring from losing mine. It felt like a referendum on my value as a human being because someone I used to work with in an office had deemed me “unnecessary.”
Since entering the workforce 20 years ago, this is the longest I’ve been without full time employment. But instead of spiraling emotionally, something else happened. I started to enjoy my life again. I revisited my local library and checked out a stack of (French) books. I caught up with neighbors and friends over coffee in the spring sunshine. I rediscovered my creative ambition and finished writing a book. I literally stopped to smell the flowers in my garden.
No country’s workforce and work culture is perfect, and no one is more aware of this truth than the French. Demonstrations against “Macron et les patrons” (Macron and the bosses) continue and the country has an uphill battle to fight against discrimination in the workplace.
However, it’s worth noting that nearly 75% of French workers have consistently expressed satisfaction with their work, compared to 51% of American workers who say they’re satisfied with their job. Food for thought, n’est-ce pas?
