The COVID-19 Crisis: An Opportunity for the Advance of Parenthood and Work-life Balance Rights in French Workplaces?

Résumé En

During the 2000s, parenthood and work-life balance (WLB) issues have gained more visibility in French workplaces through the development of new policies embedded in collective agreements (gender equality, health and well-being, remote working) or supported by ‘soft tools’ such as labels, guides or charters. The extension of the paternity leave legislation in 2020 (for application in July 2021) is a further indication of the evolution of norms and representations associated with parenthood, particularly for fathers. This study investigates how employers and trade unions have translated the evolution of legal norms into specific ‘rights practices’ embedded in HR policies and collective agreements, and the impact of the pandemic on the framing and content of parenthood and WLB policies in different industries? It is based on 45 interviews in 18 large private French and international companies (operating in France), considered as good examples of progressive collective bargaining and that made little use of furlough schemes during lockdowns. The sample aimed to contrast organizational and economic settings, notably in terms of levels of feminization, types of jobs, levels of internationalization and economic context. In each company, staff representatives (usually 2 different trade unions) and HR directors (unless refused) were interviewed by zoom between November 2020 and February 2021. Our findings show that companies have developed proactive and somehow cooperative rights practices on parenthood and WLB issues, the study reveals three different framings associated with contrasted employment relations contexts.