I think that if this permission is being denied after allowing him to operate in summer for quite a long period of time, there is a grumpy fonctionnaire behind this.
France wants to continue to be a target for tourism, so stupidity like this does it no favours.
It would be interesting to know if he is working on his own or has employees.
I’m torn how I feel about this. Yes the law is sometimes an ass; but letting individuals decide which laws they’ll obey and which they’ll refuse to obey, is a dangerous slope to start down.
To be honest I think one of the things a lot of tourists love about France is its quaint old fashioned ways and the fact it isn’t open 24/7. Holidaymakers who come here regularly would expect a closing day and could cope with buying in for two days to get them over it. I’m not sure how well that argument washes.
How many tourists does it take to break their teeth on two day old bread to make a change? Joke.
Like you I am torn, but family concerns, not those with other employees should be free to choose when they open.
The cost of employment is so high that it is not possible to have enough to cover so that everyone has at least one day off.
Then you get a situation where there are two bakers in a town, A has a social conscience so he is trying to do his bit by providing employment, and B doesn’t, he prefers to keep all his profit in the family. So if the rule was simply that businesses with no employees can open and businesses with employees can’t, A would be obliged to have a closing day and B wouldn’t. Would A see that as fair competition? I doubt it. Would it encourage job creation? No, the opposite I would have thought.
There are 2 boulangeries in adjoining villages and one closes Mondays and one closes Tuesdays. Seems like an excellent compromise to me. Bread is available every day and all the workers get at least one day off a week.
Which they have to - EWTD and all that (unless self employed)
I’m not sure but I believe they are both run by families so presumably everyone involved is self-employed.
Nearly all the small businesses near here keep it in the family.
Yes but just because it’s a family business doesn’t mean that everyone involved is self employed. “Self-employment” in France means just that, a one (wo)man band. Several self-employed people working together is specifically not allowed under French law, it would be automatically requalified as a business. French family businesses normally employ family members as salariés, it’s more beneficial to everyone.