THE French Government will use legislation to reform rules on worker representation after talks between trade unions and employer groups ended without agreement this week, the country’s labor minister said.

    President Francois Hollande had asked worker and company representatives to negotiate a deal to simplify requirements, such as running works councils and health and safety committees, that companies say make them reluctant to hire people.

    “The government will carry out a reform and this will require legislation to do so,” Labor Minister Francois Rebsamen said in an interview with the weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche published Sunday.

    “Let me reiterate, excessive formalities are bad for dialogue and so for employment,” he said. “There must be a better way to organize compulsory meetings between employers and staff representatives and make them more efficient.”

    To prepare the reform, Rebsamen said he would meet union and employer representatives this week before Feb. 19 talks announced by Prime Minister Manuel Valls this week after the failure of the recent negotiations.(SD-Agencies)