To think if you want retail workers to get Boxing Day off...

[StillCoughingandLaughing]

... the same should apply to bar and restaurant staff, cinema staff etc.?

The last couple of years now I’ve seen campaigns on Facebook pushing for all shops to be closed on Boxing Day to give retail workers ‘A precious day off with their families’. ‘We can all cope for one day without the shops, for heaven’s sake!’, people say, as magnanimous as you like. Yet they go on to wax lyrical about how retail workers deserve to be able to go to the pub or for lunch with their families, or to the panto, like everyone else.

Who do these people think are cooking the meals, serving the drinks etc.? Taking their tickets and showing them their tickets at the theatre? Why don’t these people deserve to be graciously awarded a day off by the great British public - regardless of whether they might actually want the overtime?

AIBU to think that if you’ve ever been to the pub, restaurant, theatre, cinema etc. on Boxing Day, you’re being a massive hypocrite by supporting this kind of campaign?

Totally agree with your point OP, I’m usually the lone voice saying the same thing on the inevitable “poor shop staff” threads on MN.

There are also lots of FB posts and memes today sarcastically asking why people are out stocking up on so much food when the shops are open again on Boxing Day. Oh fuck off, most people buy lots of food before precisely because they don’t want to have to go out again and buy more on sodding Boxing Day.

The OP isn't saying that all these things should be shut. She's saying that all those saying that shops should be shut so that workers can go to the cinema or out for lunch are being a bit dim. Because who staffs those places?

'I would do it like Germany. Everything, apart from essential emergency services, shuts at 14:00 on Christmas Eve and doesn't open again until 08:00-ish on December 27th.
Major railway stations and airports do have shops open, for necessities.'

Theatres etc and a lot of (not all) restaurants are open on 25th/26th, as are bakeries, at least for a couple of hours on the morning of the 26th. Christmas Eve afternoon/evening is the main celebration (but is not actually a public holiday, which makes it a weird kind of day, although almost every employer gives the afternoon off).

Germany still largely has general Sunday closing (there is a certain number of 'open Sundays' allowed per year, usually 11am to 6pm and to coincide with local events). Until about ten years ago, supermarkets/shops had to shut at 4pm on Saturdays too. It's a PITA sometimes but civilisation does not implode.

I'm never so glad to be out of hotel work as I am at Christmas it's relentless....... I did the Christmas/boxing day etc the worst thing is def people say "oh what a shame you've got to work" as they're coming in for their christmas meal

Yes It all the people campaigning for the shops to be closed didn't go to the shops, they would be closed. Also, many shops make enough money to keep them surviving during the Christmas period. If we didn't buy all our presents on Amazon, they wouldn't need to open on Boxing day, but its easier to virtue signal on Facebook that go to the shops and buy stuff. I do think they should be entitled to TOIL and extra pay though.

The difference is that you can buy things from the shops in advance so you don’t actually need to do it on a particular day. Going to the cinema or to dinner is a ‘use it or lose it’ opportunity for the business.

I’m not saying I agree or disagree with restaurants etc being open, just that the two aren’t comparable.

My Dsis works in retail and christmas day is counted as their day off that week.
We generally socialise with family/friends, and go for a walk on boxing day so dont go to pubs or restaurants. We do watch tv though. My DH is self employed and I asked him how much money he would think was worth it to work on xmas day!! (He never would as his job is in no way essential despite what some clients might think )

YABU- lots of people have to work on public holidays because otherwise the world would come to a standstill. Think of those offering services such as hospitals, firefighters and those taking 999 calls, those looking after animals at the RSPCA, police, power station workers, etc. etc. etc.

Besides this, there are many industries which rely on people using them on bank holidays because that is when they make their most money. Restaurants and pubs make a huge amount of profit on Christmas day and boxing day because some people are able to be off work and go and spend in their establishments- often at inflated prices. Also, many workers are grateful of the overtime rates and would prefer to work for more money and take their days off at less profitable times.

Imagine if everywhere was closed on Christmas day? Christmas could be a very difficult time for some people if they couldn't get a Christmas meal out- the elderly for example who are not able to cook the full works for themselves anymore but still enjoy eating it. Not everyone wants to spend their time at home with family- for many people Christmas is about meeting friends for a get together in the pub, a meal in a restaurant,

I don't go anywhere on Boxing Day, it's one day, I don't think anywhere should be open, surely people can cope for a couple of days either recreational activities such as shopping/cinema/pub? 90% of the campaigns I've seen also mention hospitality workers and most mention 'non essential services' there are plenty of smaller shops open that are owned and ran by people who don't celebrate Christmas. These places will never shut though because of corporate greed

I do get boxing day off (Aldi) but would fully support full closure on boxing day for everything no essential. We stay home and play board games, go for walk and watch films

ive never gone out boxing day my dh in securty has to work through

i do love it when people say oh he sholdnt should he-who else is going to do it

All those saying you don’t go out at all over Christmas blah blah - I bet you’ll be on MN at some point. What about the poor people staffing MNHQ?

I see the National Trust tea rooms are opinion Boxing Day - as if we won't have stuffed out faces enough by then.

By all means open/shut the park gates (assuming the gatekeeper lives on site) and let people have a walk, but let the catering staff have the day off.

I do nothing on Boxing Day other than see family.

We never go out on Boxing Day. We stay home, watch tv, play with our new toys, read our new books and eat leftovers and chocolate.

We see family on Boxing Day. I work in the hospitality industry and we have always been closed on New Year’s Day however this year the management(a multi million pound company) demand that we open as money is money, therefore some staff are working 7pm -3am for a Hogmanay bash and then back in at 11am-6pm, which is ridiculous! That was the one precious day that we all got off and due to greed we have to open.

As for the person who said they were going to the pub to see their dd who was working, good luck with that as she won’t have a minute to speak to you for the full shift if my work has anything to go by. It’s mobbed!

Unless shops, staff and public start picketing the thousands of shoppers out on Boxing Day, nothing will change. Retail don’t give two stuffs about family life

I work in a well known coffee shop and customers noses are pressed up against the window half an hour before we open on Boxing Day.

It's very annoying. I want to be with my family.

I can't think of a year in a long time when all my family were around at Christmas. Usually at least one person is working. None in retail,though.

I have never gone anywhere on Boxing Day but I agree places should be closed

Also, many workers are grateful of the overtime rates and would prefer to work for more money and take their days off at less profitable times.

I'm not sure that bank holiday rates are that great in most of retail.... and have longer and/or more expensive travelling due to no public transport.

It's very annoying. I want to be with my family.

Then why don’t you protest?

YABU- lots of people have to work on public holidays because otherwise the world would come to a standstill. Think of those offering services such as hospitals, firefighters and those taking 999 calls, those looking after animals at the RSPCA, police, power station workers, etc. etc. etc.

Which is exactly why I made the comparison with other non-essential services rather than emergency services 🙄 Of course we need doctors and nurses, police and fire services etc. over Christmas. My point was that some people seem to view retail workers as getting a terribly raw deal, but not restaurant or bar workers.

Do some people not read or are they just dense?

@LakieLady

That’s standard practice if you work outside 9-5 Monday to Friday or part time. You still get your full annual leave entitlement.

I work part time and Boxing Day falls on one of my days off this year so those hours been added on to my entitlement to book freely. If it was on one of my usual days I would have it automatically have it booked off for me.

There’s no way that Tesco worker is not getting her full entitlement (they’re greedy feckers but it’s not worth their while breaching employment law) she’s just not getting extra.

I can’t feel sorry for workers that go into a profession/job which entails weekend/night/PH working and then moan about it. It’s just a fact of life. If you don’t want to do it then don’t do that kind of work. I’m speaking as someone who worked full shifts for 30 years which involved me missing many Christmas days, birthdays etc etc. It went with the territory unfortunately. As far as retail goes, the greed of the companies trumps everything and always will do. It would be lovely to go back to a time when everything shut down for three or four days but those days are long gone.