The new law, approved late Wednesday, retains the legal limit on working hours but allows companies to negotiate opt-outs with employees. It also lets companies increase the maximum number of working days for white-collar workers to 235 per year from 218.

Reforming the 35-hour law was one of President Nicolas Sarkozy's headline pledges during last year's presidential campaign. Sarkozy says the 35-hour law was an economic mistake that did not create jobs as it was intended to do, but he has promised not to abolish it outright.

Waving banners with slogans like ''There is life after work'' and ''I refuse to give my life to shareholders,'' members of two white-collar unions protested the new law Wednesday on a square near Paris' Luxembourg Gardens.

Some protesters objected to the way the bill was passed, pushed through during the summer vacation season when it would face the least resistance.