Surface Solutions for Deeply Rooted Concerns

Introduction

Many countries are attempting to establish family work time policies that are promotional rather than supervisory as policy makers often fail to facilitate an employee and employer relationship that relies on participation and cooperation, when it comes to work-family balance, as opposed to uniformly mandated policies. Jeane Fagnani and Marie Letablier in the article “The French 35-Hour Working Law and the Work-Life Balance of Parents: Friend or Foe?” state that the root of this uniformity/oversimplification comes from overwhelming state involvement in reduced working time policies that leads to minimal impact on employment, serving only to exasperate problems surrounding work-family balance. Fagnani and Letablier pinpoint that a successful working time policy is inclusive of public support, economic and social conditions conducive to change, and significant improvements to family living conditions (p.90). The article looks beyond superficial reasons and factors that play a part in ineffective reduced work time policies by incorporating historical, social, and political facets into its analysis of France’s 35-hour work law. The authors’ objective is to emphasize that fundamental issues must be addressed and resolved before any reconstruction of the system is attempted; and policies that fail to improve family living conditions are merely not misfortunes of society but problems caused by deliberate political and economic choices where parties’ respective interests often reach a point of contention.

A. Public Support

As evidence for the theory that public support acts as a precursor to a successful policy, Fagnani and Letablier indicate that the strong social convictions surrounding the Law of 1892 and the...

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...nal views of accepted social beliefs, reflected in policies and legislation. This voice of protest coupled with judicial activism on behalf of the courts becomes the herald of change, both fundamentally and institutionally. Precedent in its purest form is consistent, predictable, efficient, stable, and a means to achieve a status quo as it provides people a means to understand and willingly conform. Precedent does not wish to discourage the public’s opposition to the way policies such as reduced working time are being interpreted and implemented, but fulfills a purpose as rules meant to guide negotiations to better facilitate social dialogue. Time policies that are then created on a level playing field of active participation and equal opportunities to voice concerns resolve fundamental issues and provide leeway for effective improvements in work-life balance.