Will the territorial agents of Alsace-Moselle work a little more? This is what the prefect of the Grand-Est region, Josiane Chevalier, relay of Matignon, requested in a circular sent in December to all the first city councilors of Alsace and Moselle, where she asks for the strict application of the law on the “transformation of public life” adopted in August 2019.
This text provides for a standardization of annual working time for all French civil servants, namely 1607 hours of work per year, and not 1593 hours as in Alsace-Moselle. The reduced total workload in the three departments of eastern France is a legacy of the annexation of Alsace-Moselle by Germany in 1892. For one hundred and thirty years, December 26 and Good Friday have been in effect of public holidays in these territories.
Three more minutes a day
The Association of Mayors of Bas-Rhin reacted to the State’s request with a motion, in conjunction with the Alsace-Moselle Local Law Institute, sent to the 526 municipalities of Bas-Rhin so that they vote on it. This has been ratified for the time being by 260 mayors of the department.
“Local law has been inscribed in stone since 1892 and I believe that the Prime Minister has forgotten it,” quips Vincent Debes, Mayor of Hoenheim (Bas-Rhin) and President of the Association of Mayors of Bas-Rhin. “As a result, the government wants each Alsatian and Moselle civil servant to work 3 minutes more per day to reach 1607 hours per year. It is out of the question that these public holidays are no longer non-working, otherwise it is the government that will be illegal. »