to hope they keep the extended shopping hours on a sunday

[hawaiiWave]

I am a bit of a loser shopaholic and I love the current extended shopping hours on s Sunday, my local town centre shops are now open 10-6. I love drive,but it seems to help traffic congestion too, as shoppers are less concentrated.

Aibu to wonder why there is a restriction in the first place?

"All the retailers I've worked at have had an 'Opt In' for Sunday work."

Wow, I've never ever seen that. All the full time retail jobs I had included weekends as standard, with no option to opt out.

You know what, make Sundays normal hours. But only if all jobs that are traditionally Mon-Fri, make them include weekends too. Don't let anyone have a weekend.

At least with Sunday trading laws in place, those in retail can have an element of a normal social life, and meet up with their Mon-Fri friends on a Saturday night. Make Sundays normal opening hours and you'd cut them off even more.

Volauvent

You say "I'm in favour of Sunday being a rest day in general but obviously with exceptions."

But why should the exception be retail? I do understand about working Sundays, I have worked unsociable hours all my life. I just think if you are against people working unsociable hours it's hypocritical to use unessential services like restaurants and hotels on Sundays yourself.

I'm with you Empusa. Let's have 5 in 7 contracts in all industries. I'll happily work every weekend if I can get a bus in, take ds to a nursery, see friends at other times because they also do shift work, occasionally go to sporting events because they're on in the week, pop into the bank on my way home etc.

I get the feeing people would soon start complaining if it happened to them.

Volauvent

You also say "Everyone is jaded and no-one has any idea what it would be like if most people "slowed down" for a break once a week."

Everyone except for the millions who currently work on a Sunday every week already.

In fact I could turn you argument on it's head because the more people working weekends would mean more people socially able to go out mid week and those who currently do shifts would see more of their friends.
In addition bars and restaurants wouldn't be rammed solely 2 nights a week (Fri/Sat) and therefore less staff would be needed to work regular Friday and Saturday shifts and it'd be more pleasant for all

Empusa

"All the retailers I've worked at have had an 'Opt In' for Sunday work."

Wow, I've never ever seen that. All the full time retail jobs I had included weekends as standard, with no option to opt out.

No idea about the full time employees working Sunday. The above was when I was doing part time work (16 hours term time and 25 hours in the holidays per week) while I was doing my degrees. It might also be because I worked after the store had closed and there were no deliveries on a Sunday so no need for the evening team to be in unless they wanted to work overtime while the customers were in the shop We were an unsocial lot so that rarely happened

Ah, that makes sense. Part time seems to have different rules.

EnglishGirl Oh I hated getting public transport to work on a Sunday! It was one of the main reasons I learnt to drive! They were always doing work on the rail lines on a Sunday, or if I was really lucky they'd just decide the train didn't need to stop at all the stop on a Sunday. Had a few times where I had to pay for a taxi to get to the nearest "big" station in order to get to work in time to unlock the shop, can you imagine the abuse if I'd dared open late!

I do drive but both dp and I work in retail and we can only afford to run one car. Buses on a sunday from my village start running from 10 so one of us has to get a taxi - it costs us money to work on a sunday!

It was anounced today that some services from my village are being cut from next April so god knows what will happen then.

When I started in retail the hours were completely different. No late nights except Thursday during December. No opening on Sundays and even on some Bank Holidays we were closed. Over the years all this has changed and many are trapped in retail due to family commitments or unable to change careers without losing a substantial amount of money and starting all over again. Many of us did not choose a career in which there could be long working contracted hours such as nursing/hotels/restaurants etc but have had to adapt to keep our standard of living. I never minded working weekends but the killer on Sundays, bank holidays and late nights is public transport. Working on a Sunday adds around 1-2 hours extra on travel as for me there is only 1 bus an hour (and if they miss one out!!!) and no trains to where I live. It is the same on Bank holidays. During extended hours over Xmas I used to get home at 10.30pm and be out the house at 7.30am and expected to start at 8.30am the next morning 2 shifts a week. I could drive but it would cost up to £16 a day to park in the city centre. And most retailers do not give 2 days off together so you never feel completely re-charged.

i work in retail i dont want extended hours!some places dont pay you the extra hours you can just have the time as holiday but not when you want it!its also very hard if you dont drive,extending the opening hours as the buses by me only run every 40mnutes and then i have an hor bus journey to get home now as there is only that one bus on a sunday!

Never having 2 days off together is dreadful. There should be some kind of protection in place against that.

And yy to Dudey's post.

"But why should the exception be retail?"

Where did I say that?

I do wonder what other world some of the posters here are coming from.
Please all of you. Never, ever have a UK break in any hotel.
Don't ever order a takeaway on a Sunday.
Ditto taking your kids anywhere apart from a nice walk in the country (with no loos, someone will have to clean them).
Obviously theme parks on a Sunday is a no no.
Sunday lunch in your local pub? Forget it.
Those people are working on the day of your leisure.
It's just wrong I tell you, just wrong.
Sunday is for family, innit and as long as you never leave the house and never use the services of others, then you can relax in your smugness.

I must say that i find the fuss about this strange.

But then im scottish & its just another normal day for us here. Shops are open if they want to be & people work if they want to. Not all shops are open & usually employees work on rotation so not every weekend.

I've been in retail for 20 years & haven't ever seen opt in for Sundays.

lady are you deliberately ignoring all of the reasoning posters who disagree with you?

I've worked in bars on every possible shift, including christmas day. Not a problem, I knew that was required when I accepted the job. People working in hotels and takeaways were aware of the trading patterns when they applied for those jobs, and would therefore have taken into account things like childcare and travel .

Retail workers have genuine concerns that they will have contract changes forced upon them which they simply won't be able to manage.

Are you saying that you would be happy to go to work tomorrow and be told your working hours are changing? That you would be ok with suddenly being worse off, only seeing dc's for a few hours, not getting a day off with your partner, paying for a taxi to work ? Really?

So, by your reasoning Ladybeagle eyes, just because some people have to work Sundays, the legislation should be changed so that even more people have to?
What EnglishGirl said, basically.

Agree with Englishgirl too. People working in retail didnt choose these hours when they first started these jobs. My exes sister started her retail job in 1994 and five/six years ago they were putting pressure on her to work Sundays. Not what she signed up for.
I once Xmas temped for an electrical retailer. They wanted people in on Boxing Day and New Years Day. They had enough staff to rota it but the manager was too lazy and couldnt be arsed. So workers on mimimum wage had to get taxis in on Boxing Day and New Years Day costing more than what they earned.

Because there are no buses round here on those days and we have NEVER had a Sunday bus service AT ALL.

"So workers on mimimum wage had to get taxis in on Boxing Day and New Years Day costing more than what they earned."

Oh yes, seen that before.

It's going to happen though EnglishGirl, it's just a matter of time.
And, as has been said already, it's what is happening in Scotland and has been for ages.
I really don't think the lovely weekend as we know it exists any more. And like you, I worked Christmas Day, New Years and pretty much every public holiday.
With so many people in the UK in the Retail or Service Industry, I honestly believe the weekend and Sunday's are going to be a thing of the past.
What's wrong with having Monday/Tuesday off for eg.
It really doesn't matter when you take it, as long as you get it

Like I have said already , I have no problem with it in theory but something needs to be done about childcare and transport if we want to become a 24/7 society.

It just can't be acceptable to push minimum wage workers into poverty because people want to shop all hours of the day. I can see no good reason why nurserys can't open on evenings and weekends. Or any other service environment.

I agree English, but that's a whole other thread

People on workfare are having to do it as well without even getting a wage. They are being made to work nights and weekends and having to walk home at unsocial hours because they certainly cant afford taxis.

Bloody hell are we agreeing on something?