-
Is France’s Canal du Midi doomed to lose its famous trees?
Over 30,000 trees along the route have been felled
-
Chance to spend a night as a ‘lighthouse keeper’ on Brittany island
This renovated lighthouse keeper’s cottage provides an unusual weekend stay option
-
New French-Swiss app launches as one-stop shop for dog owners
The app shows the locations and details of dog-friendly walks, parks, hotels, activities, groomers, and entertainment
French CEO gives €1.6m bonus to employees
What would you do with extra cash at this time of year? To celebrate 25 years in business, a French company is to give €1.6 million euros in bonuses to its employees.
Starterre, a car dealer based in Lyon suburb Saint-Fons, under CEO Jean-Louis Brissaud, is to split the amount not according to seniority, but according to how long each employee has been with the company, reports French magazine site Radins.
The longest-serving employees could see as much as €35,000, and even those who have been with the company for under three months are set to receive €500 each.
The money comes from the company’s successful profit, after the business grew by 28% in 2017.
Starterre is not the only company to offer serious extra rewards for its staff recently; last year, UK insurance company Admiral celebrated the retirement of CEO Henry Engelhardt with a gift of £7.3 million (€8.1 million) across its 8,000 employees, including 170 employees in France who each received £1,000 (€1,140).
In India, the founder of the Hari Krishna export company Savi Dholakia gives his employees gifts every year on the Indian festival of Diwali. Last year, he is said to have given out 400 flats and 1,200 cars, worth €6.9 million in total.
In Egypt, CEO Nevzat Aydin went further. After selling his company last year, he gave each of his 114 employees - who usually earn between €1,000 and €1,700 per month - a one-off bonus of €215,000 each, worth a total of €24 million.
Stay informed:
Sign up to our free weekly e-newsletter
Subscribe to access all our online articles and receive our printed monthly newspaper The Connexion at your home. News analysis, features and practical help for English-speakers in France