President Emanuel Macron

The new law contains 36 changes, fulfilling President Emanuel Macron’s promise to revise the Labor Code during his first months in office.

Some European countries have managed to generate hundreds of thousands of jobs each year since the financial crisis of 2008, but France has been unable to escape high unemployment. With 10% of its people of working age out of a job, France’s unemployment rate ranks 9^th among the 28 EU countries. The revised Labor Code specifies working conditions at private firms and an employer’s rights and duties in hiring and firing employees. It allows firms to hold a referendum to approve a labor contract without referring to trade unions at a higher level.

French unions gave a mixed, but mostly negative response to the changes, which reduce their influence at the company level, make it easier for firms to hire and fire, favor management, and threaten the basic rights of employees. France’s General Confederation of Labor has called for nationwide demonstrations on September 12. France’s left-wing party, Unbowed, has planned a demonstration on September 23 to oppose the changes.

The French government is scheduled to make public a final revision next month. It will take effect if the parliament, in which President Macron’s Democratic Movement has a majority, approves it. Many are worried about social instability due to demonstrations. In an interview with Le Point, President Macron said French people hate change, but that will not prevent him from keeping his campaign promises.