French Work Benefits | France Working Hours, Paid Leave

Tutorial Transcript

- Salut YouTube. I hope that this video finds you guys doing well. I'm super excited for this video because it's all around the benefits of working in corporate France, and there are plenty. It's incredible, and of course there are some downsides to working in France. Firstly, it can be really, really tough to find a job, there's quite a high unemployment rate in France, usually around double of that in the UK, US, and New Zealand, for example. Salary is also slightly lower than what I'm used to in New Zealand, and they can be really obsessed with the kind of school you come from, which can make it really hard to get into certain companies. But, all that said and done, in general, I think the corporate benefits of working in France are quite insane. So, today, I'm going to take you through them, and I'm really gonna be focusing on what I call the benefits of cadre. In France, workers are kinda split into two populations. You've got cadre, and non cadre. And the cadre are those professionals that earn a salary, and they don't count their hours. Usually, you have to have a university degree to get this kind of role. That's a professional office job, I suppose you would call them. As I'm working in HR in France, and I'm considered a cadre, I'm gonna take you through the benefits of what I have on my work contract and what many of my friends have on their work contract, just to give you guys an insider's view of what it can be like to work in France. Okay, so the first benefit of working in corporate France, and this is probably a little bit obvious, but it's how protective the employment agreement is. Now, French people are famous for striking and for fighting for their rights. And I have a lot of people who say, "Ugh, why are the French striking again? Don't they know how good they have it?" And, to be honest, the only reason we have such amazing labor laws and such amazing social benefits is because people have fought for it over time. But basically, the employment laws in France are such that it's very difficult to get fired, really. I know from working in a big company, working in HR, even if you have someone that's extremely bad at their job, or doesn't do much, and this kind of thing, it's really, really hard to get rid of them. In fact, you often have to move them into a different role. We call it putting someone into (speaking in foreign language), the cupboard, and just get them out of your way. It's easier to do that and keep paying them than it is to actually get rid of people. And there are very rarely big restructures in French companies, and even if there are, it goes on for so long, it's literally over one year, that you have so much notice, so that you can really start looking for jobs on the side, and you get a huge payout if it happens to you, if you're on a social plan. All of this to say, it's a big benefit, because I remember when I got my first permanent contract in France, I was, oh, just relief. I knew that the only reason my circumstances would ever change was if I decided to leave, but otherwise, 'cause I felt like I had a job for life. There's a sense of security that comes with that which is unexplainable. Now, in terms of actual benefits. Now, this one would have to be my number one. So it's about the huge amount of paid leave you have in France. So, by law, employees have five weeks of annual leave per year, paid, so this is both non cadre and cadre But on top of that, when you're a cadre,, and you don't count your hours, it's almost assumed that you do overtime. You do more than the legal 35 hours per week, which is true. So it's very common to accumulate what we call RTT - réduction du temps de travail And so this is basically extra leave that you accumulate on top of your annual leave, because they know that you're doing overtime. So it really depends on what your contract's like, and what your union agreement is like, but to give you my personal example, so I get 25 days paid leave per year, plus an extra 11 days, I believe, plus my company gives us a few extra days off when there's a public holiday on the Thursday, and they'll give you the Friday off for free, this kind of thing. I tend to get between 37 and 39 days of paid leave per year. So that's why if you're working with French people, they disappear from mid-July 'til September, basically. They take their big summer holidays, plus they're able to take holidays in the winter to go skiing, plus, why not a little spring break as well? It's honestly incredible, so good for your well-being, it's so good for your work-life balance. Now, France is still the world's seventh biggest economy, so it's still a lot of productivity happening, and there's a lot of work happening. Now, another huge benefit of working in France is that they will pay for 50% of your transport per month. So, for example, my monthly unlimited metro and bus pass costs about 80 euros per month, and so my company pays me 40 euros per month in my bank account to pay for half of it. So that's just a great bonus. Now coming on to the next benefit, and this is kind of incredible, but in France, access to cheap, balanced, good lunch at work is basically a human right. So companies need to provide you with either A, a canteen, so a highly subsidized, cheap place where you can find filling, hot meals, salads, all sorts of food for very reduced price, or what we call ticket restaurant, or restaurant ticket, which are now basically little credit cards with a credit on them. And so the amount changes per company, but if we say, they give you 10 euros credit per day on your little card, you can use that to pay for your lunch, and you can use it in 99% of stores, supermarkets, restaurants, and that kind of thing, in France, it's all set up for it. And how it will work, is that 5 euros per day comes out of your pay, and the company would give you the extra 5 euros for free. What's cool about this is that you can actually use this credit at supermarkets as well, as long as you buy food-related items. I don't believe you can buy cigarettes with it, for example, but I believe that alcohol does get by on some of them, because, you know. France. Now, another huge benefit of working in corporate France is what we call the mutuelle. So, in France, as you know, the healthcare is generally very, very inexpensive, as in the state covers around 70% of it, on average. Go to the doctor, maybe it will cost 25 euros, you'll get reimbursed 20, for example. Now, a mutuelle is a private health insurance which is compulsory to subscribe to if you're working in corporate France. And it's very, very cheap, so they often negotiate great rates, and so for me, for example, I pay 40 euros per month, it comes out of my pay slip, and it means that my healthcare is topped up to 100%. So, in general, everything in France is free for me, in terms of healthcare, and I can upgrade when I'm in hospital, and I can go for more private healthcare options, and this kind of thing, thanks to my (speaking in foreign language). So I can go to the dentist, I can get my wisdom teeth out, I can get hundreds of euros worth of eyewear, if I need reading glasses, all this kind of thing, thanks to the combination of social security and my mutuelle. I've never ever had to think twice about going to a healthcare professional because of money. Another big benefit is that if you work in France, employers legally have to contribute to your ongoing training and personal development, and they do this using a CPF, or a compte professionnel de formation And basically, even if you're working part-time or full-time, obviously, as well, you accumulate points. And it's not to do with your employer, as such, because it's your account, you get the points. So if you change your employer five times, it doesn't matter for this training bank account, I guess you could call it, and then you can use it to do all sorts of different trainings. Now, this can be training that's relevant to your job, or it can be training that even helps you to change career, change employers, and change industry. I've had people doing everything from career switch courses, to learning Italian, honestly. And your employer has to give you time to be able to go to these trainings. They can refuse twice, but they are not allowed to refuse a third time. Now, just before you thought I had finished on the legal obligations of when you're working in corporate France, you also have all sorts of life leave. So, if you get married, for example, you get four days off. Obviously, like in most places, there's bereavement leave, as well, if there's a death in your family. And then when it comes to maternity leave, you get 16 weeks paid maternity leave in France, and French men have a grand total of 11 days paternity leave. And the maternity leave is surprisingly far less generous than what we have in New Zealand, we're just about to go up to 26 weeks of paid maternity leave. But still, I know that there are a lot of countries out there that don't have so much maternity leave, so, maybe that's something that you would find really interesting. So, the benefits I've just described are kind of the standard legal obligations that you'll find all over the place. On top of that, depending on the contract you have, the union you have, there are so many other types of benefits that you can have. So here are just a few of the really common ones. So, in France, a common benefit could be a (speaking in foreign language), a 13th month. So, we get paid once per month in France, and then in December, you get paid two months worth. We also get cheques vacances, now, I don't know why we have this, or how we have this, but when it comes to summertime, most companies give you vacation checks, like vouchers, basically, that you can use for trains, planes, holiday homes, all sorts of stuff. Where I'm working, we get a bonus of several hundred euros just before summertime, so we can enjoy in our summer vacation. Now there's the same kind of concept around Christmastime. A lot of companies offer what's called cheque cadeau, which are gift vouchers, I guess, where you can use in various different stores that you can buy your Christmas presents with. And we also have, in France, what's called a comité d'entreprise, which is when you have 50 employees or higher, the company has to offer it. And basically, .2% of the company's wages need to be allocated to a special fund, and you can get all sorts of benefits like, the most common ones are cheap gym memberships, cheap movie tickets, cheap theater, holiday excursions, cheap tickets to Disneyland, random things like that, but they get you all sorts of advantages and benefits that you can access through this body, which is called your comité d'entreprise. So, that was just an insight into the corporate benefits of working in France. What do you guys think? Is it surprising? Do you find it crazily generous? Is it on par with what you have in your countries? I'd love to know. I personally find, apart from a few things where in New Zealand, has a bit better off, I find them insanely generous. Let me know your thoughts about working in corporate France, and if you're French, or if you're working here, I'd love to hear about some of the other benefits that maybe you get that I didn't mention in this video. Otherwise, guys, I hope that you found this interesting, and I'll see you guys in the next video Wednesday. à bientôt !