Agreed rates are below legal minimum

Despite government efforts to get employers to negotiate new agreements, many national pay settlements in France still have wage rates that are inoperative because they start below the legally binding minimum wage.

Last month, employment minister Xavier Bertrand revealed that 71 of the 160 industrial agreements in the private sector, covering 3.7 million employees, had rates below the minimum wage for at least one grade.

In most cases, this was simply a result of poor timing, as the agreements had been signed shortly before the minimum wage’s annual increase in July. But Bertrand identified 18 industries, employing a million workers, where there were serious problems – with most agreements being at least two years out of date.

Jean-Michel Martin, a national official of the CFDT union confederation, said he was disappointed at the report’s findings, and expressed regret that the minimum wage is still used as a starting point in so many negotiations. It “should be seen as a safety net”, he said.