Some home furnishing stores in France have recently defied a court ban on opening on Sundays and insisted on opening their doors on Sundays. The tug-of-war between businesses and the government has intensified around the ban on business on rest days.
Weekend vacation sparks discussion
France 24, a French television station that broadcasts international news 24 hours a day, reported that on September 26, the court ordered Castorama and Leroy Merlin, home building materials supermarkets in Paris, to close on Sunday. But three days later, on Sunday, the two companies decided to "commit crimes against the wind", knowing that each branch would face a daily fine of 120000 euros (about 997000 yuan), but still insisted on normal business.
In France, it is not the first time that businesses have ignored judicial prohibitions and paid fines to open their doors. According to the French Tribune, in November last year, Bricorama, a competitor of the two companies, was fined 30,000 euros by a local court for illegal business on Sundays.
Those stores that are "lucky" to be able to open legally on Sundays are also subject to strict restrictions on business hours. On Sept. 23, Sephora's Champs-Elysees flagship store was ordered by a court to close by 9 p.m. instead of staying open until midnight.
French society is debating whether to relax the requirement of opening hours to stimulate the French economy, which has just emerged from recession, or to defend the balance between work and leisure time as traditionalists wish.
Voices in support of weekend business believe that amending the regulations can promote employment. At present, the unemployment rate in France is 10.5%, and it is facing the dilemma of slow economic growth and stagnant consumer spending. According to the Daily Mail, the growth of French consumer spending almost stagnated in July and August.
Baudouin Prot, chairman of BNP Paribas, also said: "The country must move on.". Standing still is not a good option. Paris is a big shopping center and the most popular tourist destination in the world, and we have to try to keep it competitive.
But many unions still defend the 35-hour workweek and the right to weekend holidays. The Catholic Church also believes that it is essential to adhere to tradition and allow people to have a special day of relaxation every week.
French people demand "weekend work, night overtime"
The right of French citizens to take Sunday holidays has been protected by law since 1960. Only some flower shops, fish markets, or special types of shops, as well as shops located in specific tourist areas, have the privilege of opening on Sundays.
Most businesses strictly abide by the regulations. A British woman wrote on the Daily Mail website that during her trip to the French countryside, there were no shops open on Sundays except cafes. If they violate the regulations, unauthorized shops will face fines of up to 6000 euros.
French people have been quite supportive of the law before, but recent polls show that public attitudes are changing significantly. According to a survey conducted by Ipsos, a well-known polling organization, 63% of French people are in favor of expanding the shopping areas open on Sundays.
Gerald Fillon, an employee who supports weekend work, told the Financial Times that "closing shops on weekends is totally out of line with the pace of modern life, especially in Paris, which is no longer in the 19th century".
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In order to work late into the night, employees at Sephora's Champs Elysees store even took out a full-page advertisement in the French newspaper Le Figaro for the right to work overtime, which was signed by 90 employees.
In addition, hundreds of workers from all walks of life marched in May this year to demand Sunday work. Their slogan, borrowed from Obama's "Yes We Can" (Yes, I can) "sentence pattern during his first presidential campaign, expressed his French dream as" Yes Week- End ".
Employers have expressed their dissatisfaction with the situation in which employees want to work overtime, but the law does not allow them to do so, and they have to be fined. The head of the employers' union, Pierre Gaeta, told France's BFM television that he was shocked by the court's proposed cap on Sephora's operating hours. "This is really unreasonable.". The guests wanted a longer time to be able to walk around the store, and the staff asked for more hours to work, but they stopped it, which was crazy.
Bricorama's president, Jean-Claude Breulier, supported the court's fair approach when he saw competitors being treated in the same way as his company, but he also pointed out that the ideal solution was to "let everyone open on Sundays".
Other countries have relaxed their bans .
Across Europe, bans have been relaxed with the exception of France and Germany, which are still "trying to prevent" people from going to work on Sundays.
Britain gave people the right to choose whether to work on weekends as early as 1994; Greece and Italy, in the midst of economic crisis, relaxed restrictions on business hours to stimulate consumption.
In 2009, with the support of then President Sarkozy, restaurants, museums, furniture stores and other places in some tourist cities, such as Paris, Marseille and Lille, were granted the right to open on Sundays.
Despite the growing demand in France to expand the scope of weekend business, according to the analysis of "France 24", during the administration of Socialist President Francois Hollande, people who want to work on weekends may be disappointed.
Although President Hollande has not publicly expressed his refusal, the possibility of change is unlikely. Labor Minister Michel Sapin has said publicly that he has not considered abolishing the right to take Sunday holidays. Other officials, such as the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, have also refused to expand the shopping district open on Sundays.
But this issue has clearly become an effective way to win votes for the next mayor of Paris. Conservative mayoral candidate Kosikko Morizet has vowed to defend France's status as the world's most popular tourist destination by expanding weekend shopping areas.
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