Thirty-five Hours by Anthony de Jasay July 15, 2002 In 1999, the socialist administration in France railroaded through a law reducing the "legal" work week from 39 to 35 hours with maintained weekly pay, and severely penalising overtime. This represented a rise of over 11 per cent in hourly labour costs, partly mitigated by a temporary reduction in employers' pension and health insurance contributions, the shortfall to be borne by the general taxpayer.The measure was said to be a double achievement. It was a great leap forward in social progress, in the humanist transformation of the economy to serve man...