February 24th 2014

Textbook chapter 13 Case Analysis: WORKING HOURS – A TEST CASE FOR FLEXIBILITY

Questions

1- The Financial Times described British lobbying of the EP against the end of the opt-out in the working Time Directive as ‘a strategic defense of the UK’s liberal economic vision for Europe’ (FT, 12 May 2005, p.3) Explain and analyze this statement. How do you interpret this statement in terms of contrasting economic models in Europe and of the debate over labour market flexibility?

I agree with the reasoning of having enough productive working hours. For instance the French 35 hours a week is a good example of how a society could be organized with less working time and still be productive. Quantity is not the key but quality is. It doesn’t matter how hard a country works for instance, most of the Chinese in foreign countries with business, work every holiday they don’t close their business. However Chinese economy is one of the most impressive economies now a day because of its fast growing. Conversely French’s economy has been a steady economy for years and they do work a lot less than the Chinese.

2- At the time of writing, agreement on the review of the working time directive has not been reached. Find out whether the review has been concluded. What does the struggle over the directive tell us about attitudes towards labour market flexibility?

It tells us that there are different point of views and differences. Not everybody agrees with the agreement. There are a lot of interests behind the directive. We have to remember that the more people work, the more they produce and the more taxes they have to pay back to the government.

3- The case refers to agreements concluded by German companies with their unions to increase working hours in an attempt to boost their competitiveness. Research this practice and assess how widespread it has become.

“A look at the average annual hours worked per person in selected countries puts South Korea top with a whopping 2,193 hours, followed by Chile on 2,068.
British workers clock up 1,647 hours and Germans 1,408 - putting them at the bottom of the table, above only the Netherlands.

Greek workers have had a bad press recently but, as we reported in February, they work longer hours than any other Europeans. Their average of 2,017 hours a year puts them third in the international ranking, based on figures compiled by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).” (Stephenson, 2012)

Is clear to understand that countries tend to increase the rate of worked hours when they face recession. It’s been proven that no country ask their people to work harder without a reason. Most of the time the reason is the declining on the economy growth

Stephenson, W. (2012, May 23). Who works the longest hours?. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18144319

4- In your view, are French laws on the 35 hour working week and other labour market regulations in France sustainable? What challenges does the French government face in attempting to reform these regulations? You may gain some insight into the second question by investigating the reaction in spring 2006 to the government’s attempts to free up the regulations on hiring and firing young workers.

In my view it would be a problem, because these people are already used to the system of the 35 hours weekly. So is going to be a very big challenge, unless the government negotiates the situation with employers and employee to get into an accord. Is going to be as the situation the country faced back in spring 2006 when the government attempted to free up the regulations on hiring and firing young workers. A lot protest and complain will fill the street