To be thinking about Easter Sunday shopping laws

[JellyfishandShells]

DH and I were just discussing our food options for the next week. We have no problems in getting what we need (SW London) - supermarkets well stocked around here and we are very flexible about when we can shop.

Just checked and the usual Easter Sunday closure is on the timetables of all our local stores. It’s an anomaly, a concession given to the anti campaign in the 80s, when Sunday opening was first allowed. The reason given was that staff and customers would be able to go to church on an important day in the religious calendar.

Not religious myself, and not bringing this up as a general discussion point, but at this time I think an exception could be considered. It is going to increase the number of people who are still working a traditional week, either from home or physically there , having to do their shopping on Friday or Saturday. The queues on those days will be proportionately longer. Stores have taken on a lot of new staff, on flexible contracts, so could surely cover the hours.

I think shops should be open THIS Sunday

and new rules should force them to close EVERY Sunday when things are back to normal.

Shops are shut on Christmas day as well, some close for New years day too but not as many. Trust me, most people working in the supermarkets will be glad of the closure, regardless of their contract or how long they have been there.

And the extra staff have often been taken on to cover for colleagues who have to self isolate - they're not 'spares' in many cases.

I didn't mean they were spares, but were needed for the extra deliveries, extra click and collect, packing of vulnerable boxes, all the extra work going on at the moment.

For those of you saying everyone knows the shops shut on Easter Sunday, I can say there is still some confusion over which shops have to close.

Shops below a certain size can open, although many do reduced hours, but some people certainly haven't grasped that the law doesn't just apply to supermarkets/high street shops.

I've regularly gone past garden centres/local DIY store on Easter Sunday, to see people driving in, floating round the car park aimlessly, then driving out again. Even last year.

To totally disagree. In fact, I think it would be good idea to actually revert to far, far more strict Sunday trading rules. At the moment working in retail means sacrificing seeing your children often.
Our convenience is considered more important that work life balance for workers. Hopefully this crisis will have taught us that these workers are important people and deserve to be treated with respect.

I agree with closures on Christmas Day but not Easter. Easter is much more a normal Sunday than Christmas is a normal day of the week. Shops should be allowed to open whenever they want, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There should be rules in place so that staff are not obliged to work on bank holidays and Easter, but give employers the option to tempt them to with increased wages.

Recruiting of extra staff means nothing!!!

You still need the usual managers and experienced staff there for the new staff!!!

Fucking ridiculous idea!!

Retail staff have just recently campaigned for Boxing Day off too

So now you want to remove Easter as well??

In Scotland shops open as usual on Easter Sunday

Is this an English thing? The shops don’t shut for Easter in Scotland.

All the hard work supermarket staff are currently putting in plus the risk they’re facing every day and you’re grumbling because they have Easter Sunday off to spend with their families?

Nice.

@MamaBearOnLockdown

Why? Why should shops be open this Sunday?? Don’t you think staff need the rest just now??

Selfish

Why? Why should shops be open this Sunday?? Don’t you think staff need the rest just now??

for the reasons I just said....

Why isn't the staff working on the supermarket delivery side of things not allowed a day off too then?

YABU

It’s one day. The shops are closed for one day, A preplanned closure which happens every year. If people really can’t cope with that then they have issues!

Supermarket staff are key workers who are putting themselves at risk to keep us all fed. Being forced to work Easter Sunday on top of everything else would be very unfair!

Obviously the NHS are more high risk and can’t just close for Easter. But supermarkets can, always have done, and definitely still should!

Supermarkets open as normal in Scotland. I don’t think we observe the Easter holidays.

People do not need to shop every day, one day off for retail staff would be a real boost for them and in normal circumstances they'd be able to spend time with their families and have a break from everything but at present they really do need a day where they do not need to get up at sparrows fart to help feed the public and to see their children husbands wives etc, after all they are human and have been in the firing line for some people's abusive ranting so need a break and some family time same as others

doesn’t apply to other religious or Bank Holidays

Yes it does. Shops are also forbidden from opening on Christmas Day. Are you going to complain about this as well?

I suspect not because you don't actually want to go food shopping on Christmas Day and plan accordingly. So why not plan accordingly for Easter Day. It's two days. Out of 365. Really, it's not much hardship.

And you're being disingenuous asking why it only applies to Easter Day (and Christmas Day too although you seem unaware of this) rather than all bank holidays. Surely you can see it's because of the religious aspect whether or not you agree with it.

@ClareOClareo - Easter is actually the most significant religious holiday of the year, much more so than Christmas. There are still many people who go to church, and surely some of them are shopworkers. Let them have the choice as to whether or not they can observe this religious day. I remember when all shops were also closed on Good Friday and lots of religious programmes were shown on TV.

If the law was relaxed for this year then people would be calling for it to be relaxed in future “normal” years.

Personally (and I don’t work in retail) I think we should go back to the older laws where only the very small shops were allowed to open for emergency essentials.

That’s the issue

They don’t need a break as much from the actual WORK side, it’s more the contact with the rude abusive and entitled PUBLIC who have shown true colours in this pandemic!

@BuggerOffAndGoodDayToYou

In which case we really do need to be clear as to what will be classified as ‘essentials’ because I’m sick of seeing the ‘but it’s essential to ME’ claptrap!

Why isn't the staff working on the supermarket delivery side of things not allowed a day off too then?

I don’t know about this year but I know Ocado didn’t do deliveries on Easter Sunday in previous years....

Do you think the shops will be overrun though

Seems that way. DP tried to go to our local Asda a couple of hours ago, because I naively suggested that 'it might not be that bad if you go early'. Got there to find the car park packed and a massive queue to get in.

Said that people were coming out with trolleys piled high like just before Christmas. He didn't bother and just got the things that we couldn't do without today in the Co-op on the way back.

I don't understand it. I know that people are eating at home more because they can't eat out and aren't getting their lunch in Greggs etc, but surely people aren't needing this much extra food all the time? It's not like people are hosting dinners for the extended family over the holiday weekend is it?

Shops should always be closed on a Sunday imo, no religious reason, just people deserve a bloody day off!

Easter Sunday is considered the same as Christmas Day, that’s why.