Schools will shut, business activity will slow and aperitifs will flow in sun-soaked gardens today while the French confirm their status as the world holiday champions with an unofficial day off. Ignoring the call from President Sarkozy to work harder, millions of employees will down tools to travel to the seaside and the countryside on what is, in theory, an ordinary working day. The upshot was two-hour traffic jams around Paris last night as residents headed out of the city, a 30 per cent fall in production for many industries and a rise of up to 20 per cent in holiday bookings compared to last year. Absenteeism will be rife among school pupils. But they are unlikely to be punished because many of their teachers are also playing truant. The national lie-in has been made possible by a calendar that placed the VE-Day Bank Holiday yesterday, May 8, and the Whit Monday Bank Holiday on May 12. By staying away from work today, the French get a five-day break. A day off squeezed between Bank Holidays is known as le pont (the bridge), and many companies will see up to 90 per cent of their workers on it. Some businesses have shut altogether.
Schools will shut, business activity will slow and aperitifs will flow in sun-soaked gardens today while the French confirm their status as the world holiday champions with an unofficial day off.
Ignoring the call from President Sarkozy to work harder, millions of employees will down tools to travel to the seaside and the countryside on what is, in theory, an ordinary working day.
The upshot was two-hour traffic jams around Paris last night as residents headed out of the city, a 30 per cent fall in production for many industries and a rise of up to 20 per cent in holiday bookings compared to last year. Absenteeism will be rife among school pupils. But they are unlikely to be punished because many of their teachers are also playing truant.
The national lie-in has been made possible by a calendar that placed the VE-Day Bank Holiday yesterday, May 8, and the Whit Monday Bank Holiday on May 12. By staying away from work today, the French get a five-day break. A day off squeezed between Bank Holidays is known as le pont (the bridge), and many companies will see up to 90 per cent of their workers on it. Some businesses have shut altogether.
They say the Gallic economy has fallen behind the British largely because the French take 11 days' more holiday a year, with each day costing about €1.8billion. If the French worked as much the British, they would add about 1 per cent to national wealth, according to advisers to the president.
Funny how the Times neglects to mention that on the years when holidays like to 1st or 8th of May fall on a Saturday or a Sunday, we don't get an extra day off as a compensation
It depends on your work contract. Mine specified 217 days worked, and so a year with many weekday holidays meant less RTT. Now, you're under the Banks convention collective, not the horrendous SYNTEC, and I bet you are not usually able to take all your days off in a year... Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères
So what's the big deal?
Only the UK and the US, to my knowledge, move all fixed-date holidays to the nearest Monday. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
