Mariam, a 28-year-old employee at a retail chain in France, went to great lengths to get fired. She knew she wouldn't be eligible for unemployment payments if she simply quit. Mariam asked her company flat-out to fire her, but she was turned down. Then she simply stopped showing up for work. Her wish was granted at last ? she was fired, went on the dole and found a new job six months later. Soon, such convoluted yet surprisingly common schemes may be a thing of the past. An unusual new proposal, prompted by President Nicolas Sarkozy's push for a more flexible labor market, would allow employees to get unemployment payments even if they quit.
See "French Say 'Fire Me' and Sarkozy Listens", Angela Doland, San Francisco Chronicle, January 17, 2008