解密法國一周工作35小時的神話
理查德·文圖裏（Richard Venturi）
2015年 7月 20日
如今，法國的上班族很少有時間去咖啡館吃午餐。（圖片來源：Thinkstock）
在公眾的印象中，世界上有兩個歐洲：一個是勤勤懇懇的北歐，那裏失業率相對較低，經濟生機勃勃；另一個是節奏緩慢的南歐，工作之餘，人們喜歡悠閒地生活，細品咖啡，看著時光流逝。
很多人會把法國歸為南歐，那裏一周工作35小時，午餐時間長，假期更長。但是任何在法國工作過的人卻認為實際情況並非如此。
奧利維耶（Olivier）在巴黎的一家建築行業的大型法國跨國公司擔任高級法律顧問（他要求隱去了他的真實姓名）。最近的一個晚上，他在辦公室裏描述了他每周的工作情況。「我每周工作大約45至50個小時，從早上9點左右一直工作到晚上7點半。」
那麼名聲不好的每周35小時工作制是怎麼回事呢？難道這一讓全世界大多數職場人士所艷羨的工作制只是一個美麗的神話？
和許多固有印象相反，35小時「只是一個標凖，超過這個工作時限以後就算作加班或可以申請補休」。法國經濟學家讓·馬里·普羅布斯特（Jean-Marie Perbost）說道。
藍領工人可以精確的計時工作35小時，但是白領（法語稱為cadres）每周工作並沒有精確的計時。和美國的上班族一樣，大多數法國上班族需要把手上的任務完成才能下班。但是和美國不同，法國的上班族在35小時以外的時間工作能享受補休，具體的情況視每家企業的協商情況而有所不同（2013年法國企業的平均補休日為9天）。
甚至藍領也會加班，工作超過35小時。根據法國政府的統計數字，2010年50%的全職工人表示曾獲得加班費。普羅布斯特說，2013年這個數字應該更高。當然，從一些行業來看，歐洲員工每周的工作小時數並不算多。以律師為例，根據法國全國律師協會（CNB），2008年法國44%的律師稱其每周工作55小時以上。而在美國，調查顯示，為了達到律師事務所普遍設定的付薪工時標凖，很多律師需要一周工作55至60個小時。
不止法國是這樣
不止法國，在其他國家，這種悠閒的工作周時安排也往往是言過其實。西班牙人的工作時長和它給人們的印象也有巨大的反差。帕布魯•馬丁內斯（Pablo Martinez）在首都馬德里的一家來自德國的跨國企業擔任資深銷售和工程經理，他說他每天早上8點開始工作，下班時間幾乎從未早於晚上6點半。
「為了跟上國際市場的步伐，西班牙人的做法也在發生變化。」他說，「現在，人們隨便買份午餐，坐在電腦前面吃，是很常見的。但20年前我剛開始工作的時候很少見到這種現象。」
事實上，歐洲各個國家全職雇員的周工作時長驚人的相近。根據歐洲統計局（Eurostat）2008年的數字，歐元區平均周工作時長為41小時，法國略低於40小時。各國差距很小，挪威最低，為39小時。奧地利最高，為43小時。
「正是35小時這個說法造成了對法國人不怎麼幹活的錯誤印象。」 奧利維耶說，「這種成見根深蒂固，但是事實卻並非如此。」
造成法國周工作時長較短的神話可能還有另一個因素：大多數人在理解周工作時長時只考慮到了全職雇員。但是在歐洲的很多地方，兼職工作的人也不少。在過去的15年中，兼職工作的人口呈增長趨勢。2008年開始的全球金融危機更是助長了這一趨勢。
「像荷蘭、英國、丹麥、瑞典、德國這樣低失業率的國家，它們的做法實際上是讓四分之一的人成為兼職雇員。」 普羅布斯特說。他在歐洲綠色基金會（European Green Foundation）工作期間曾發表過相關研究，該基金會是一個歐洲議會（EU Parliament）資助的、總部位於布魯塞爾的政治機構。他說歐洲統計局2012年的統計數據印證了他的看法。
普羅布斯特稱，在北歐國家，兼職更加普遍。他們有最少的周工作時間，既包括全職也包括兼職雇員。 歐洲統計局2012年的數據顯示，荷蘭、丹麥、瑞典、英國和德國的平均工作時間都在35小時左右。同時，希臘人的平均周工作時長38小時，緊隨其後的是西班牙、葡萄牙和意大利。從整體而言，法國人的平均工作時間是35小時。
如果我們認真年研究一下全歐洲的兼職工作時間，就會發現一個驚人的趨勢。法國人的兼職工作時間比其他國家都要長。
根據法國勞工部研究小組Dares 2013年的調查，法國兼職雇員的平均周工作時間是23.3小時，而其他歐盟國家大部分是20.1小時。
這可能有助於解開工程經理馬丁內斯的一些疑惑。「每次我在下午四點半左右打電話到德國，都會驚訝地發現在辦公室的人怎麼那麼少。」 馬丁內斯說，「現在可能是西班牙在這方面落後了。」
請訪問 BBC Capital 閱讀 英文原文
Few French business people have time to stop for a cafe lunch these days. (Thinkstock)
In the collective imagination, there are two Europes: the industrious north, with relatively low unemployment and dynamic economies, and the sluggish south, where people would just as soon kick back, sip an espresso and watch the world go by.
Many people would lump France, the land of the 35-hour workweek, long lunches and even longer vacations, with the south. But anyone who has worked as a professional in the country knows otherwise.
Olivier, a senior counsel in a large French multinational in the construction industry in Paris (he requested his surname not be used), described his workweek one recent evening in his office. “I work about 45 to 50 hours a week, from roughly 09:00 till 19:30,” he said.
World of Work
Average annual hours worked by full-time employees in 2011 around the world…
Germany: 1,406 hours
Norway: 1,421 hours
France: 1,476 hours
United Kingdom: 1,650 hours
Spain: 1,685 hours
United States: 1,704 hours
Japan: 1,706 hours
Canada: 1,708 hours
Brazil: 1,841 hours
Korea: 2,193 hours
Singapore: 2,287 hours
Source: Federal Reserve Economic Data
So what about the infamous 35-hour workweek, which is the envy of much of the rest of the professional world? Is it merely a myth?
Contrary to many stereotypes, 35-hours is “simply a threshold above which overtime or rest days start to kick in”, according to French economist Jean-Marie Perbost.
Blue-collar workers are expected to work precisely 35 hours, but the hours white-collar workers (cadres in French) amass each week are not clocked. Like professionals in, say, the United States, most cadres work until the tasks at hand are done. But unlike in the US, French professionals are compensated for the hours they work beyond 35 with rest days, which are negotiated on a company-by-company basis (there were nine rest days, on average, given by companies in 2013).
Even blue-collar workers work more than 35 hours. According to French government statistics, 50% of full-time workers put in paid overtime in 2010. That percentage was likely to be higher in 2013, said Perbost. Of course, compared to the hours certain professions tally on a weekly basis, the average worker in Europe doesn’t have it so bad. Take lawyers. According to France’s national bar association (CNB), 44% of lawyers in the country logged more than 55 hours on a weekly basis in 2008. In the United States, surveys show that many attorneys work about 55 to 60 hours per week in order to meet the billable hours requirements most firms maintain.
Not just France
It’s not just France where the laid-back workweek is more myth than reality. Professional hours in Spain also contrast with the country’s popular image. Pablo Martinez, a senior sales and engineering manager at a German multinational in Madrid, said he starts at 08:00 and rarely leaves before 18:30.
“Things have changed in Spain to keep pace with international markets,” he said. “It’s not uncommon for people to grab some lunch and eat it in front of their computers, which was rare 20 years ago when I started working .”
In fact, the number of full-time working hours per week across Europe is strikingly similar. According to Eurostat, in 2008, the Eurozone average was just under 41 hours per week, with France slightly under 40. The range was also slim, with a low of 39 hours in Norway and a high of 43 hours in Austria.
“It’s really the 35 hours that have created this false idea that the French don’t work a lot,” said Olivier. “The idea sticks in people’s minds. But it’s not a reality.”
Another factor that may have fed the short workweek legend: most people only consider full-time staff when they take a look at the average work week, but in much of Europe, more people are working part time. This has been a growing trend for at least 15 years and it was exacerbated by the global financial crisis that began in 2008.
“What countries with low unemployment like the Netherlands, the UK, Denmark, Sweden and Germany have done is, in effect, put one worker out of four in a part-time job,” said Perbost, the author of a study on work for the European Green Foundation, a Brussels-based political organisation funded by the EU Parliament. He added that 2012 statistics from Eurostat echo this idea.
Northern European countries, where Perbost said part-time jobs are much more common, have the lowest hours per week worked, for all workers, both full-time and part-time: the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, the UK and Germany all average around 35 hours per week, according to Eurostat’s 2012 figures. Meanwhile, Greece’s workers logged an average of 38 hours, followed closely by Spain, Portugal and Italy. French workers, collectively, clocked in at about 35 hours on average.
Take a close look at part-time working hours across Europe and a startling trend emerges. The French even work longer part-time hours than their peers.
The part-time workweek in France averages 23.3 hours, compared with 20.1 for most of the other European Union countries, according to a 2013 survey by the French employment ministry’s research group Dares.
That might help explain a few things to engineering manager Martinez. “When I call Germany after around 16:30 I’m always surprised at how few people are in the office,” said Martinez. “Maybe it’s us in Spain who’ve got it backwards.”
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