Monetization of the fifth week of vacation: a "proposal", according to Panosyan-Bouvet

Labor Minister Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet assured on Friday, July 18, that the idea of monetizing the fifth week of paid leave was a "proposal" that social partners could "negotiate" or "dismiss" if they wished.

"It's a proposal that has been made to the social partners (...). If they want to reject it, they reject it; if they want to negotiate, they negotiate," she assured on RTL.

"This is a text that is at the discretion of the social partners, since they must begin negotiations from August 1," insisted the minister, while the proposal, which initially went unnoticed, has provoked numerous reactions.

This mechanism is "inspired by a system that already exists, which is the monetization of RTT," but it is "absolutely not a suppression of the fifth week of paid leave," she added.

Ms. Panosyan-Bouvet said she met with "employer organizations" on Thursday and that she was expecting "the CFDT and other trade union organizations on Monday."

The minister indicated on Thursday that this was a "new right, without calling into question current rights and protections" but which "would remain in the hands of each employee."

The possibility of monetizing the fifth week of paid leave was raised on Tuesday by Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet during the press conference where Prime Minister François Bayrou unveiled his savings plan and his desire to propose to social partners that they open negotiations on unemployment insurance and labor law.

It has sparked strong reactions on the left and among trade union organisations, with CFDT general secretary Marylise Léon speaking on Thursday of a "museum of horrors".