One dedicated French baker breaks local employment law after taking professional pride too seriously
Sometimes we all need to work a little overtime – as long as employers understand and respect the importance of work-life balance.
One dedicated French baker took professional pride to another level, after he was fined EUR3,000 for working too hard and failing to close his shop for one day.
Cédric Vaivre owns Boulangerie du Lacin in Lusigny-sur-Barse – a small town in France with a population of just 2,000.
Under local employment law, the province requires all bakeries to close once a week, and so when Vaivre refused he was subsequently fined.
Locals have stepped up to defend Vaivre, with Mayor Christian Branle telling French publication, L’Est Éclair: “In a tourist area, it seems essential that a business can open every day during the summer. There’s nothing worse than closed shops when there are tourists.”
“There has to be some common sense, especially in small rural places,” Branle said. “We’re not in an area where there’s lots of competition… let people work when there are visitors expecting a service.”
Vaivre was told that the only way to get around the law was to open up another bakery with different operating hours. The laws are reportedly there to protect workers and ensure their work-life balance is respected.
A petition to allow the bakery to remain open has thus far obtained over 3,000 signatures.
