Short hours, long breaks: Are French workers lazy?

[@duke613]

Lazy? No it's the way life is supposed to be lived.

[@thecitizenjoan]

My Goal in Life is too become a French Cliche

[@patrickmcshane7658]

Hands up!

[@e0o9kii]

Better get that Red Wine and Croissants ready.

[@erepsekahs]

Try learning to spell in English first.

[@Desi_Des]

Lived in Paris for many years, speak French (although a little rusty now since I haven’t been back for 2 years) , know the culture and love the food. I have learned so much from your videos that I wasn’t aware of which is surprising. I do want to thank you very much for opening all these new doors for me and others who are interested in the French culture. Will follow you on FB and Twitter. Merci bien Mademoiselle.

[@Rayschall1]

I've bacome a fan of Florence Villeminot. I'm so glad I've found this channel just today since I live in France for quite some time. I subscribed now. Thank you very much for interesting videos concerning France!!!

[@jonathanmcgovern2464]

Counterintuitive but shorter hours longer breaks leads to more focus productivity at work. Too much focus is on number of hours.... should be in terms of productivity, not number of hours at work aka burnout, presenteeism.

[@barnabydinosaurroadsafetyp3457]

I am a Brit - more productivity joke - no problem with 2 hour lunches but too many here are just a bit too relaxed about everything - seen a few who work for themselves work very hard but productivity compared to uk, germany, dutch is laughable. UK went back to work months ago here we are still on a long covid holiday. Complacent not lazy complacent.

[@Eusantdac]

So, let me get this straight: the French are not legally allowed to fish for scallops until October in their own French waters but the British are legally allowed to come into the French waters and fish for those scallops? That makes absolutely no sense.

[@julies8813]

EU makes the decisions who and what.. Eu does not care who get and not get it. But it gets more complex.. Britain has more power and larger economy than France.. So France agreed to it because want the Britain's money and sell out on its own citizens lesser incomes on French people. So in the end you shall protest against EU for that.

[@EvilSmonker]

@@julies8813 Britain and France actually have practically the same gdp, along with practically the same population. More likely quid pro quo.

[@ihatefrogs4390]

the french are scared of the english..they tremble in the presence of the english..germany, ran right over france twice in two world wars, without firing a shot.

[@saucyrossy3698]

Yeah. Welcome to the EU. None if it makes sense. Its a terrible idea and reality itself is proving that out.

[@ericmamadou4735]

Many things in france are based on the logic you just pointed out.

[@helenepege6043]

Unfortunately, those winderful labor laws aren't applied un France...let's talk about the 35 hours, for example. I'm an accountant. I've been working all my carreer well over 35 hours each week.Those hours weren't paid or converted into Rtt because they weren't legal. The major issue in France is that companies don't respect the labor laws. I ate at my desk with my collegues, worked past legal hours, had my share of illegal CDD...statistics show only what has been declared by the companies...

[@leesteal4458]

You guys enabled your employers.

[@jeanfonssedeporte3158]

You should have sue your employers. And maybe it is because you have a "cadre supérieur" contract, in this case you dont have maximum hours

[@injektileur]

it is actually 25 days off / year. Except in restaurants. And lots of holidays are nulled if they happen during a week-end. Like a july 14th on a sunday. So there are never 30 + X days off. Except when it comes to RTT. That part is right.

[@kramerberbon1804]

I'm surprised 1/2 hour seems long for a lunch break. Seems normal to me.

[@jamesfletcher474]

Depends if you want to go home at 5:00 and see your kids or if you prefer to work till 7pm so you can have a long lunch paid for with ticketresto

[@richardparrington8636]

Great content. Do more stuff like this please.

[@AlbandAquino]

A healthy worker is more productive than a semi present worker, trying to meet ends ... In France we value our time off because it's making us more committed to our work environment. For sure, when at work we work our arses off, but when on a lunch break, or on week end ... Don't mess with us. Live and let live, if you want a productive worker let him/her have some time off. You will get a good value for your money.

[@___beyondhorizon4664]

Long lunch hours and many cigarettes breaks was what I saw in Paris...

[@AlbandAquino]

@@___beyondhorizon4664 In almost every jobs, you have a mandatory 20 mins break every 2 hours. If you decide to split it in half, you can totally have your smoke every hour :) I'm usually doing a combo. Coffee + smoke :P And quite often, colleagues are joining to enjoy a coffe as well even if they don't smoke.

[@hori166]

30 paid days off? In Amerika, most workers get NONE because of the mantra "Arbeit Macht Frei". The French aren't lazy, they just have different priorities. Get busy living, or get busy working...

[@leesteal4458]

I want to work in France.

[@jamesfletcher474]

There are no jobs lol

[@stevencarrier2466]

I Love Flo and Genie!

[@markjmaxwell9819]

Well in Australia we work a 38 hour week with a minimum hour break distributed over the day. With four weeks paid holidays and public holidays. And a maximum of twelve hours per shift. mmmmm Food for thought. 😆😆😆😆😆

[@leesteal4458]

Twelve hours is way too long.

[@iFreeThink]

It's fine to give tracks. But don't require being stuck with blocked people.

[@iFreeThink]

Monthly pay might be more appropriate for evaluating - buildings and - educational employees/texts.

[@bwb4416]

sure they are on strike 24/7

[@CyborgZeta]

Man, I wish I had 30 days off here in the US.

[@Ethioutforlunch]

I really love and Enjoy French connections please continue like this

[@ivermektin6874]

Well this puts current events into perspective.

[@leesteal4458]

Not true. In the USA, I don't know who takes less than a half an hour for lunch. Some offices actually close for an hour for lunch break.

[@piedadepais]

I’m from Portugal, I work 35 hours a week, have a 1,5 hour lunch break and 15 minutes pause int morning and the afternoon. It’s the legal work hours. 22 vacation days, and the usual holidays, Easter, Christmas, saints, and so many during the year.

[@georgegrigoriu5114]

All that matters is how much one produces, not how much time he stays in an office. Just look at the Germans. They don't work the most time but they have the best outputs because they are the most efficient.

[@davepasopton8840]

Why does everyone interview only office type workers with programmes like these? There are many more real workers who apply practical and technical skills in various environments that must also take adequate break durations. These are just as important and possibly of more value to a country’s society and wealth creation. Bakers, Engineering craftsman, Joinery, Building, Public services etc?

[@mihiec]

Yes! Every journalist focuses only on fancy jobs in office.... Its mosty well paid easy job to do.

[@danielbtwd]

Yes I agree, I work as a welder/fabricator, I make 1 kilometres of welding per year and 50 tons of equipment with a value of 1500 000 euros. One needs the stamina of an occupational athlete. Many of my colleagues at 55/60 yrs need replacement hips, knees and shoulders. By retirement most are finished. Yes I work in France and they are hard working conscientious people. Conditions are much better than other countries that I have worked. Medical, pension, education, nice holidays, better pay and lower cost of living generally.

[@iFreeThink]

People are claiming the randomest stories and royalty whatever.

[@I_like_YT_lots]

There's a reason why most of the western countries are running on deficit with YoY growth on borrowing.

[@lex2151]

Please kindly add closed captioning for disabled viewers.

[@iFreeThink]

They should be with tax exams. Random people who don't even serve food to hungry Hippos.

[@SilvanaDil]

A bit more work and France's per capita GDP could be higher.

[@ke8814]

And a lot more work and France's gdp per capita could be even higher. Work is necessary for us to live, but life is much more than work. Remember you only have one life, 110k income instead of 100k income won't bring back lost years.

[@remicaillot]

Having financial success in france doesn't mean having a successful life for everyone

[@CameronCourts]

But most of those gains would go to the rich. People wouldn't necessarily be better off.

[@danielbtwd]

You would just be taxed more.

[@ltgdr6298]

in france if you lose you job you get 80% of you salary for up to 3years, You also have free healtcare, eduction and tons of other right providing you money on top of your monthly earnings. Your monthly earnings dosent mean how well you live. If your kid need a brain surgery that cost 500k living in UE is buy far the way to go.

[@sayakhalder4138]

My owner makes me do 12 hrs a day and gives 6 day work like 72 hrs what should I do

[@williambilltran3528]

Awesome!!!

[@chris14091975]

I love how they prove the stereotypes

[@nanaprt61]

I love this country.

[@wahidullahzadran2149]

🤘✌I love you English French❤❤❤❤🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@goodbarbenie5477]

Ahem...I had the worst job in my life in S.Africa...where I wasn't even allowed one day off because illness. They still took a whole day's pay off. I was also forced to use up all my accumulated leave. I wasn't even allowed to visit the toilet...I was not even paid overtime...Even working on weekends doing stock staking etc. I was never remunerated for that at all...When I needed help or assistance in my work I was punished as being incapable or inept for doing my work... When I approached the labour department in N.W. province they laughted and sniggered at me in their language...No salvation... For a White Englishman...hah... Life can be bummer when U least expect it of people...Hahaa... Knowing what I just learnt from this program, I would preferred to have been lost in France...even though I cannot speak a word...Hahaa... LuvU. Guys...

[@m.j.golden4522]

So not true about the money making in France. People make money and they just consider it as important as taking a bite of bread. It's nonchalant. And that's the way it should be. They don't worship money and they should keep it that way.

[@myyoutube5567]

Mais, C'est loin.

[@violetgruner707]

In America you do not dare ask for more vacation time. You would be labelled a Communist and told to leave the country. You would be called "lazy" and thus your morals would be questioned.

[@iFreeThink]

There goes leading the UK.

[@thierryf67]

"fonctionnaires" don't have higher wages. this is full of private worker cliché.

[@danielbtwd]

They are paid more for the kind of work that they do. Plus all the advantages.

[@popkhorne5372]

@@danielbtwd wrong, at least for teachers. They are actually underpaid.

[@jamesfletcher474]

Short hours??? Not true at all, 9-7

[@saraclark5099]

Bonjour, where did you film this? Would be nice to Know the Name of that Restaurant, thank you

[@d.f.991]

11:59

[@IzabelParis]

Le Café du Commerce, rue du Commerce, Paris 15ème

[@Vietnam-mintDotCom]

French services are lousy!

[@jamesb312]

France is not a free market economy, it's rife with protectionism...it could account why the French economy is such a mess...For crying out loud they even dictate when shops can have sales and frown on commercial competition,

[@fredericlallinec7450]

Like Brexit it is the mess Like Trump government is he Staline or Adolf Hitler? And many Americans or British are in poverty and lower educated, almost illetrate I

[@danielbtwd]

Actually the French economy is on a par with that of the UK. They also enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world. There are also many wealthy people, just look along the French Riviera. Of course there are problems like everywhere.

[@mage5890]

Really I'm a bit disappointed... Some comments are really friendly (maybe too much 😆, but that's welcome 😊), whereas others are soooooo disrespectful!! 😭😭 I guess it's the same everywhere in the world, some people are indeed arrogant or else in France (and all over the world), but not all people, please! That's mean to say that and false for sure!! I hope you will meet nice people 😊👊 Have a good day 😘🇨🇵

[@lamijojo7003]

A question to the English native speakers: does the interwiever Florence has a French accent when she speaks English?

[@jamesfeww]

No, her accent isn't noticeable at all.

[@life_lab_chronicles]

No. No accent. She sounds like a native speaker of North American English.

[@Vietnam-mintDotCom]

France has the lowest paid earnings and poverty is increasing.

[@ltgdr6298]

in france if you lose you job you get 80% of you salary for up to 3years, You also have free healtcare, eduction and tons of other right providing you money on top of your monthly earnings.

[@stud6414]

@@ltgdr6298 why work if you'll get a salary for not working? Also, France lives in a greater global complex so they don't have to innovate or work hard because countries like USA will pull up the slack.

[@PrinsTan]

25 days not 30.

[@GJ-ho2hy]

I disagree fundamentally, french are very similar to the americans actually. Having worked with French and for a french firm, they are the only ones working crazy overtimes, judging those who leave home on time and think they are productive because of the long hours. Awful corporate culture really..definitely not european

[@kukamusa1947]

Too many holidays because free money and minerals from Africa..3.5 billion a year

[@xxxxxx-kk7mh]

@C. Michael false

[@ltgdr6298]

3.5billion a years are joking ? sociale help that is mostly use for migrant is 700billions... you are so funny with your 3 billions

[@popkhorne5372]

Which is a ridiculously small sum. For a country like france.

[@Beestist]

Competition seeking top talents should dictate vacation days, not the law.

[@bwb4416]

ohhhh so sorry! 39, I am so sorry , the French are so stressed out uh? 39 uh

[@HighTechFan_Geek]

Jealous ^^

[@CalebMcCarthy]

I want to become a French Fonctionnaire

[@ornella6243]

I'm French and what they about functionaires isn't totally correct. Because if you have fewer hours you have a small fee, you got an earlier retirement it's with a lower pension, and you can have bigger pensions only if you succeed prestigious public Concours or prestigious public school

[@ornella6243]

Oh and I forgot that you not pay and you don't receive more "congé payée" if you work more than 35h per week in practice

[@redadermane8177]

It's not a myth folks. it's a fact ! it's a mixture of laziness and a system that is "too socialized" , discouraging ambition and hard work. you add to it the overly hierarchical working environment: if you have a lower education degree , you can almost never hope to do better. you're blocked by an idiotic system. while in the US, you can say : " if i work hard, smart and persist, i can succeed", it's the opposite in France. they're happy with an income and hope to get a raise by stabbing their coworkers in the back, licking asses to get upper. i know it happens in the US also. but in France it's a culture. i've been living in France for the last 2 years. i travel all the time around for work. so i talk from experience. and i speak French fluently. Government workers (fonctionnaires) are "Gods": they do whatever they want, whenever the hell they want. just check how long it takes to get a simple "passport" , ID card or drivers license-copy. or anything issued by a government office for that matter. i have French friends that still hold to their very old drivers license (paper made) because it can take weeks, or even months, just to get it renewed. same for passports...etc. now , tell me that's not laziness and inefficiency ! indeed, the health care system is socialized, and sounds great when you say it. but good luck getting an appointment with a doctor. i had to call 7 dentists for a tooth abscess, no one would take me in. finally i had to go to the emergency room and wait for hours before i could be seen by a doctor. same thing with many specialists. customer service here is a joke. very unprofessional, rude and inefficient. I can go on and on, and i dare anyone to contradict these facts. i can't wait for my contract to end to go back home without losing my job. I advice any fellow American to think hundreds of times before deciding to live or stay in France for a long time. even tourism, i always recommend my friends who want to visit Europe, to choose Spain, Netherlands, Italy or northern countries. at least you can have some fun without headaches.

[@tobeytransport2802]

1:20 that’s not quite true. I’m from the UK and I believe that in the US because of their federal system it appears that they get 0 days holiday but that is just the federal limit, the states can (and probably do) set limits however they probably aren’t as good as the UK or the EU (and definitely not as good as France)

[@xz1891]

Hopeless

[@jamesb312]

How can they be lazy, they are constantly active in being on strike...it also takes a lot of effort to be so rude and arrogant!!

[@frederic4844]

jamesb312 Well, you have just proven that the french are not the only one being rude and arrogant, well done !!!

[@jamesb312]

This is from a French funded channel...I stand by my assertion that the French are rude, lazy, arrogant and cowardly when, in fact, the French have nothing to be arrogant about. France is a disaster area!! France is known to be the strike capital of the World..SNCF are always on strike.

[@frederic4844]

jamesb312 A statement, not a proper reference. And, congrats, you have just made my point again ...

[@jamesb312]

Oh but yes, it's a proper reference..I unfortunately got stuck in France and had to deal with the bloody French on a day to day basis..I have lived all over the World and I have never met a people as bad as the bloody French!!

[@frederic4844]

jamesb312 Oh, so it’s an opinion, not a fact ... I knew that some people tend to confuse anecdots with data ...

[@rodionkulichenko4211]

So basically the stereotypes are true! okay

[@MrACPAHMADALI]

Le français est très difficile.

[@nicksincredibleopinion]

Lol, American here. We have time off, we just negotiate that for ourselves. If you have no skills, probably not worth anything to your boss. Hey, France, how is your innovation of new industries going with all those days off? LMFAO

[@ashleatenny2719]

Is that an east coast thing? Everywhere I've ever worked they just told you which holidays you get off, and paid vacations are accrued based on hours worked, non- negotiable. And even then you get ridiculed and gossiped about if you dare take more than 2 or 3 days in a row off, even if you have weeks, or even months, of accrued time.

[@JM-nt5ex]

There is no such thing as "negotiating for yourself". You're either in a union or you get what you get.