A French baker has been fined 3,000 euros (US$3,686) for opening his business seven days a week, breaking labor rules.

Cédric Vaivre, who runs the only bakery in Lusigny-sur-Barse in Northeast France, was open every day during the summer of 2017 to serve tourists.

A local decree in place for over a decade bans bakeries from opening seven days a week.

In fact, there are whole sets of laws that govern which type of bread can be called what, and when and how often bakeries can stay open.

One such law in Aube states that bakeries must close at least one day a week — a day of rest.

“There is nothing worse than closed shops when there are tourists,” said Christian Branle, Lusigny-sur-Barse’s mayor.

“There has to be some common sense, especially in small rural places,” Branle told French television. “We’re not in an area where there’s lots of competition … let people work when there are visitors expecting a service.”

A petition in support of the baker has attracted more than 2,000 signatures. That’s pretty impressive given that Lusigny-sur-Barse only had about 2,000 residents in 2014.

“We just want to open like this during the summer, not all year,” Vaivre said.

It seems Vaivre may be in the minority, however. The Federation of Aube Boulangeries and Patisseries questioned 126 members at the end of last year; the majority were in favor of maintaining the obligatory one-day closure.

Eric Scherrer of the retail union CLIC-P said French employment laws were there to protect workers and employers and had to be respected.

“There’s a rule in place that says bakers and other professions in the food industry must close for at least one day a week because it’s an artisanal trade where people can work a lot, much more than the legal limits,” Scherrer told The Local.

“These people need to have a rest day each week. We can’t just allow them to work non-stop. It’s absolutely necessary that both bosses and employees have a day of rest.”

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【个例】gè lì minority being or relating to the smaller in number of two parts

【强制性】qiáng zhìxìng obligatory compulsory

最近，法国的一位面包师傅被罚了3000欧元（约合人民币2.3万元），原因竟是因为太勤劳，一周开店7天。

这位面包师傅叫塞德里克·韦夫尔，他经营着法国东北部巴尔斯河畔吕西尼小镇上唯一的一家面包店。2017年夏天，他每天都开店营业，为游客提供服务。

可是没想到，他的勤劳犯法了……

事实上，法国有整套的法律规定每种面包的叫法，以及面包店什么时候可以营业、营业多久。在奥布省就有这样的法律，要求面包店每周至少歇业一天。

不过，这位面包师到现在也还没交罚款，当地小镇的镇长和居民也纷纷为他求情。

巴尔斯河畔吕西尼镇镇长克里斯蒂安·布朗利称：“没有什么事情比在游客到来时停止营业更糟糕了。”

他对法国电视台表示：“人们还是要有点常识，特别是在小乡村，我们这里没什么同行竞争，当游客需要服务时，应该让他们工作。”

支持韦夫尔的请愿已经获得了2000多个签名。这一数字非常惊人，因为2014年时这个小镇的居民仅有2000人左右。

韦夫尔称：“我们只不过是想在夏天时一直营业，并不是全年都要这样。”

不过，像韦夫尔这种情况似乎属于个例。奥布省面点联合会在去年年底对126名会员进行了调查：绝大多数人都支持强制性歇业一天的规定。

巴黎商业工会协调委员会的艾瑞克·舍雷尔认为，法国劳工法是为了保护员工和雇主的权益，应当被尊重。

舍雷尔告诉《本地人》：“法律之所以规定面包师或其他食品行业的员工每周必须至少休息一天，是因为在这些手工行业的员工工作量很大，远远超过了法律界限。”

“他们需要每周休息一天。我们不能让他们不停歇的工作。老板和员工都有必要放一天假。” (Chinadaily.com.cn)