Young workers highlighted in negotiations

Unions and employers in France have started discussions which may lead to new rules governing the role and rights of interns.

The negotiations, which started on 8 February, look more generally at the position of young people in the labour market and at methods of reducing youth unemployment. Among the issues under discussion are:

• using older workers, whose hours would be reduced, to help train younger employees;

• improving training, particularly for those with a poor school record; and

• providing young workers with subsidies for travel, housing and meals.

One area where progress looks possible is the status of interns, who are widely used in France. There is a consensus among the unions that action is needed and the employers are also concerned about abuses.

Laurence Parisot, the head of the employers’ organisation Medef, said she was “absolutely opposed to interns who are not interns”.

One possibility is that there will be a limit of perhaps six months on the length of time that interns can work in a placement; another is that the employer will pay pension and other social contributions.

The negotiators have agreed a series of twice-monthly meetings into May and the expectation is that there will be an agreement by the end of the first half of the year.