As President, Hollande pursued labour reform to make France more competitive internationally. Legislation was introduced in late 2012 and after much debate passed the French lower and upper house in May 2013. The bill includes measures such as making it easier for workers to change jobs and for companies to fire employees. One of the main measures of the bill allows companies to temporarily cut workers' salaries or hours during times of economic difficulty. This measure takes its inspiration from Germany, where furloughs have been credited with allowing companies to weather difficult times without resorting to massive layoffs. Another measure that aims to simplify the firing process. Layoffs in France are often challenged in courts and the cases can take years to resolve. Many companies cite the threat of lengthy court action – even more than any financial cost – as the most difficult part of doing business in France. The law shortens the time that employees have to contest a layoff and also lays out a scheme for severance pay. The government hopes this will help employees and companies reach agreement faster in contentious layoffs.

Another key measure introduced are credits for training that follow employees throughout their career, regardless of where they work, and the right to take a leave of absence to work at another company. The law will also require all companies to offer and partially pay for supplemental health insurance. Lastly, the law also reforms unemployment insurance, so that someone out of work doesn't risk foregoing significant benefits when taking a job that might pay less than previous work or end up only being temporary. Under the new law, workers will be able to essentially put benefits on hold when they take temporary work, instead of seeing their benefits recalculated each time.

The Up All Night movement began on March 31 after a group of demonstrators camped out at the French capital’s iconic Place de la République to protest against the country’s controversial labour reforms and “everything that goes with it”. Since then it has drawn thousands of supporters and grown to encompass a wider range of grievances, from social inequality to the Panama Papers to France’s ongoing state of emergency, and has drawn comparisons to the 2011 Occupy movement in the United States or the Indignados in Spain.

Smaller gatherings have also sprung up in towns and cities across France, and also in Belgium, Germany as well as Spain

The “Nuit Debout” or “Up all Night” movement began on March 31 when a group of activists decided not to go home after a march against the proposed reforms.

Protesters have since included a number of causes, from migrants' rights to anti-globalisation.

Earlier on Thursday, dozens were arrested after clashing with police at the margins of a rally protesting controversial labour reform plans, which the government argues will cut unemployment, but critics say are weighed heavily in favour of employers and will erode job security.

More than 900 'Democracy Spring' protesters arrested in D.C. - so far
Police have calmly arrested hundreds of people in Washington, D,.C. protesting the influence of money in politics during the last week, in what several participants described as a striking display of restrained law enforcement.

More arrests are expected Monday, the final day of protests when the focus of the non-violent protests turn to voting rights and timely consideration of the Merrick Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court. U.S. Capitol Police have arrested more than 900 protesters through Saturday.

Mass demonstrations by a group called "Democracy Spring" began last Monday. A related group, "Democracy Awakening," joined the efforts on Saturday and are holding often integrated sit ins and other demonstrations to protest laws it considers discriminatory, such as Voter ID laws.