Fined tens of millions of dong for... working too hard

In the Aube region of France, bakeries are only allowed to open a maximum of 6/7 days a week. Photo illustration: The Local France

The French take baking very seriously. In fact, there are a number of rules in the country about what cakes are called, when and even how often bakeries are open.

In the Aube region of France, there is a law that requires bakeries to close at least one day a week, which is the shop staff's day of rest.

So when local baker Cedric Vaivre decided to open his shop all week to make the most of the busy summer season in 2017, he was heavily fined 3,000 Euros (nearly 84 million VND).

According to CNN, Mr. Vaivre's supporters in his hometown of Lusigny-sur-Barse are now trying to change the regulation, which was enacted on September 15, 1994. They hope that the hardworking bakers who open their shops seven days a week will no longer be fined.

An online petition to change the bakery's hours restrictions has now garnered more than 2,000 signatures, an impressive effort given that Lusigny-sur-Barse had only around 2,000 residents in 2014.

However, Frederic Amiot, President of the Aube Bakers Association, still firmly defends the regulation that has been in place for nearly 14 years.

The French authorities place great importance on work-life balance. In January 2017, the country passed a law that gives employees the right to limit their interactions outside of office hours and the workplace.

The 35-hour workweek has been in place in France since 2000. However, the country has also introduced several reforms to soften the rules over time, allowing for special exceptions for certain industries.