J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by tin pot

AllyG wrote:Thanks Brooksy and PrivateBryan :)

I have learnt a lot from what Verbier_Ski, SwingBeep and the others have said - thank you very much :)

But I still think there is a lot more to understand about this. I don't think the ESF or the French government really think ski hosting is dangerous, but clearly there are other problems connected with it, like the issue of ski hosts being paid below the minimum wage, which breaks the law.

I found this, on the ESF Facebook page, which is a French newspaper account of the case.



This is a description of the Smic (French minimum wage standard):

The Minimum Interprofessional Growth Salary (SMIC) sets the minimum hourly wage in France (metropolitan area, overseas departments and overseas collectivities of Saint-Barthélémy, Saint-Martin and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon). An employer may not pay an employee less than this amount set by the Government and risk incurring penalties if they do so, and this regardless of the form in which wages are paid. Since 1 January 2011, the amount has been set at 9 Euros per hour gross, or 1 365Euros per month net, based on a working week of 35 hours. A reduced rate can be applied in certain cases, particularly for apprentices. The SMIC is automatically re-evaluated on 1 January every year. It can also be re-evaluated in the case of an increase in the consumer price index exceeding 2%.


http://www.france.fr/en/working/ins-and-outs-employment/professional-relations/all-about-smic

Ranchero_1979 wrote:Because we are British, live on a small island and are worst Nation in Europe/probably world, for learning foreign languages.

[/quote
Some are, and its well known some French still hold it against us that the universal language is in fact English, not French, ...and not yet Cantonese.

I speak French and Portuguese, most French dont think I'm English - not because I'm fluent, but because I confuse French and Portuguese words. ;)

I like a lot about France and the French, but not the nationalism or the anti-English elements. I want to buy property there, as have my family wanted for some decades, but again the anti-foreign ownership stance of the government is a big put off. Ultimately there is very little different between the English and French, excepting a thousand years of enmity.

Ranchero_1979 wrote:"Nobody is arguing whether laws need to be respected or not. What is clear is that French law protects ESF trade, and works against both British instructors and "ski hosts".

This protects all ski schools including the numerous British independent ski instructors in Alps and BASS etc etc. ESF as the major employer of ski instructors in France has highlighted a point which individuals alone would not have bought against the TO's. British independent instructors and guides were the people being hurt the most by previous situation.

AllyG wrote:

SwingBeep wrote:As Ian Wickham mentioned earlier this has been going on for years. There was article about the same issue in The Daily Telegraph on 19th Dec. 2001 shortly after the French ministry of sport enacted the current law http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/4180074/British-ski-guides-hit-French-resistance.html

As the law is pretty clear and the penalties are quite severe (up to 1 year's imprisonment and a fine of up to 15,000 Euros) http://www.legifrance.com/affichCode.do?idArticle=LEGIARTI000006547567&idSectionTA=LEGISCTA000006167038&cidTexte=LEGITEXT000006071318&dateTexte=20080208 I'm quite surprised that the TOs offered this service at all and got away with offering it for so long.

An extract from the Telegraph article says this:
'Some guides have basic instructor qualifications but, under French law, only holders of the highest of the three BASI (British Association of Snowsport Instructors) grades are entitled to work in France as an instructor. Training for this qualification takes around five years.'

Apparently ski hosting using unqualified guides has been illegal since 2001 (unless they are true 'volunteers'), but for some unknown reason it seems that the French have now decided that 'enough is enough' and they're going to stop it.

So what they are saying is that ski hosts must have BASI level 3 (which apparently takes 5 years of training) in order to work legally on the French ski slopes, even though ski hosts do not instruct.