On the Right Hook this evening, George will be tackling absenteeism at work when he talks to Sinéad Doherty of the accountancy firm Fenero.
From sickies to writing your own doctor’s note, expect George to be fully present in a lively debate. Tune in live at 5.30pm: http://www.newstalk.com/player/
But amid all the talk of employees avoiding their workplaces, for legitimate reasons or not, our French neighbours have made headlines for forcing a baker to take a day off.
Stéphane Cazenave, who currently holds the title of the best baguette in France, has been legally required to close his boulangerie at least one day a week after he fell afoul of employment laws.
Residents of St-Paul-lès-Dax, a town in the south west, will now no longer be able to buy the baker’s award-winning baguettes on Mondays, after an investigation found that twice Cazenave had opened his bakery seven days in a row without closing for a period of 24 hours – a violation for any shop in France that sells bread.
While it might seem like another example of French democracy surrounding the country in red tape, the baker in question is furious; he claims that being forced to close for a day every week will mean a loss of €250,000, casting some doubt over the future of some of the 22 employees on his payroll.
"People see me like a thug just because I asked to work," he told French television channel FranceTVinfo. "Working shouldn't be a crime in France."
The affair will be considered another blow to supporters of the controversial Macron Law, a series of sweeping reforms designed to reboot the faltering French economy.
The most controversial of the proposals laid out by the eponymous economic minister Emmanuel Macron is the call to allow businesses to open for 12 Sundays a year in place of the five that they are currently entitled to.
The ban on Sunday shopping, a long-established day of rest in France, has raised much debate since it was floated by the government. Catholic and union lobbies have threatened strikes, and the minister has even received death threats.
