The labour market, the organisation of working time and social dialogue

People used to work long hours for little money. Over the years, in most western countries, working hours have been reduced and workers have been granted (to grant = « accorder ») a certain number of rights (paid holidays, a limit to the number of working hours, the right to form and join a union, etc.). In France, the « Aubry Law » on the 35-hour work week (for companies with over 20 employees) was passed in 2000.

Social dialogue refers to the process by which employers, governments and workers work together and negotiate on issues of economic and social policy. Bipartite dialogue involves negotiations between employers and workers. Tripartite dialogue happens when the government is involved. 

Social dialogue can happen at the national, local or sectoral levels. The goal of social dialogue is to reach a consensus among the different stakeholders in the world of work.

Welfare (social protection) includes all the measures taken by a government to protect citizens: mainly healthcare, retirement (= « retraite »), unemployment benefits (= « allocations chômage »), free education and low cost housing (= « logement à bas coût).

Over the past few years, governments have found it hard to keep financing the welfare state (= « l’état providence ») and have engaged in reforms. This is due in part to demographic change. Redistribution of wealth (= « redistribution des richesses ») is possible only when there are enough people working and paying taxes.

In many developed countries the population is ageing so the working population is bound to decline sharply. Because of this the rate (= « le taux ») of productivity growth could slow down. It also means that working people need to retire later.