France allows bosses to ban wine from the workplace

Having a glass of wine at the office canteen or towards the end of the day is almost a rite of passage in France.

In fact, the French's love of the grape has been so ingrained that the right to have a glass of wine at work is protected by law. Until now, that is.

The country's labour laws previously stated "employers could not ban beer, cider and wine from workplace canteens and social drinks in offices", but this looks to be a thing of the past as the French labour ministry decides to give bosses the option of banning booze.

Why? Because "wine threatens the security and well being of workers".

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The decree comes as the ministry pointed out a study by the Institut Gustave Roussy - a world leading cancer institute - saying that alcohol abuse causes around 49,000 deaths in France annually.

According to the study, the French drink about 27g  of alcohol per day, or 2.7 glasses.

It means the probable end to the boozy lunch hour for many in France, and a lot more sober employees.

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