AIBU to not want shops open boxing day

[Moomoo75]

So basically I work in retail and have to work the sale on boxing day. AIBU to not want to work on this day to want to spend spend it with my family. With the surge in covid no.s etc is a sale the day after Christmas really necessary? 😪

I agree. I think all non essential shops should be closed on Boxing Day. No one needs M&S to open at 6am! As they used to. Think they are closed now though.

I’m with you no need, sales can start on 27th surely. After last few years staff can have extra day to rest it’s 24h that’s all

Though if I'm alone at Christmas it's a huge relief that coffee shops are open.

@MorningStarling

YABU. If shops want to open and people want to visit them they should be allowed to. If you work in retail you know that there is a risk you will have to work weekends and bank holidays, it's not a 9-5 Mon-Fri type of job. A lot of people are grateful to work on bank holidays because they get extra pay. People shouldn't be obliged to work at Christmas, but shops should be free to offer their staff bonuses/higher wages to lure them in.

Hahahahahaaaaa!! They get fuck all extra in a lot of cases other than threats if they don't work it.

A bonus?

Why on earth would thetr he a bonus on a day they will simply male sure fits in with your contracted number of days/hours

I'm surprised PP gets enhanced pay and extra time in lieu when doing Xmas shifts in the NHS. I didn't when I was working on a half dozen occasions.

I'm with you, OP. Too much shopping. I know shops can't survive without customers but the despair over getting a "bargain" is depressing. They're not even proper bargains if you hadn't intended to buy the item and only do so because it's cheaper.

It only seems cheaper because the price is temporarily raised before Xmas ro maximise profit and in order to make the discount on boxing day look bigger anyway

You presumably had it off last year anyway

Snurk

I don't work in retail but I do think that we can manage to buy enough food to last two days and we can hold off from the Christmas sales til the the 27th. When I grew up all shops were closed on Sundays and somehow we survived. Extraordinary.

Having said that, I had a low paying job and I had to work christmas day, boxing day etc. And plenty if people in the hospitality and entertainment sectors have to work so 🤷

Lots of people referencing Next. They aren't opening on Boxing Day along with many other big stores. And while a pp has probably hit the nail on the head that it was a far easier decision based on the restricted Sunday hours and made to look like a kind offering to staff, I suspect others will follow suit by next year.

I dont go to the supermarkets on boxing day as i have everything in we need, plus it nice to have a lie in on BD and have a lazy day, but its good to know the shops are open if I ever did need anything

You want others to give up their lie in and lazy family Boxing Day and hang around at work just in case you might need something? 😆

@BarbaraofSeville

I thought all the big chain shops and supermarkets were closed on Boxing Day?

I keep seeing reports about how they're all closing for 2 days because it's not worth opening the 6 hours they're allowed in England 'to thank the staff for their hard work during the pandemic'.

Is this not the case?

@barbaraofSeville I work in a supermarket who have posted on social media about how they are closed on boxing Day to ensure staff can enjoy a break and the Christmas break with their families. What they don't say is behind the scenes night staff will very much be in storee boxing day night, accepting the delivery and getting the store ready for opening on the 27th

I used to work retail. When I started if you worked Boxing Day you got paid time and a half. This was later changed to normal wages but because it was in my contract I was entitled to it. In my last few years of working there my bosses didn't want to pay extra so I always got the day off (which I much prefered to time and a half). Score
The main reason I grew to hate working Boxing Day was it was all bloody refunds. "Don't want this" to a present they have received. And then being yelled at because we could only give gift vouchers at current price (often reduced).
It was amazing how many toys "didn't work" yet they wouldn't want an exchange for a working one "well my kid didn't really like it anyway".
That was the era of those robot dog type toys - the more you play with it the more it would do..."this doesn't work - it doesn't do all the stuff" well no it wouldn't when you've only owned it for less than 24 hours and probably only played with it for 2.
I had no problems with someone wanting to exchange a toy because their kid had asked all 3 of their Aunties for the same thing (happened more than you would think) and I enjoyed helping the child choose something different - or often encourage them to come back in January when there would be a whole load of new toys to choose from (kids were usually cool with this idea).
But the whole concept of returning something less than 24 hours since you received it just because you "didn't like it" was just sad.
There was also a lot of complaints that there was "not much Christmas stuff reduced". Well if we sold it all BEFORE Christmas that's a good thing. That's what a shop actually wants to achieve. A retailer wants to sell as much as it can at full price. They don't want left overs to sell reduced. They lose money that way. Duh
Memory rant over.

YANBU

I work in customer services in a supermarket, this year I finish work at 8pm on Christmas Eve and am back in at 9.30am for us opening at 10am on Boxing Day. I will spend the last few hours of my Christmas Eve shift being shouted at for ruining peoples Christmas because they came in at 7pm and there were no turkeys left and then after a 37hr reprieve I will return to spend my Boxing Day being shouted at for ruining peoples Christmases because the toy they bought was faulty/the clothes were the wrong size/there was a bit of mould on their cheese ... but hey, I get paid £14.70ph (time and a half) on Boxing Day so that makes it all worth it.

The worst thing is that I know there will be at least half a dozen people who will come in and tell colleagues "Aww, it must be terrible having to come to work on Boxing Day - all shops should be shut!" .... Well Dierdre, if you had stayed the fuck at home then the store wouldn't get the footfall and they would make no profit and then they wouldn't open, but since you were queuing outside the door at 9.30am waiting for us to open at 10am on Boxing Day so you could buy a load of absolute tat just because it is 50% off, then I will be forced to continue to come into work

Completely agree - no need for them to be open. I would never ever shop on Boxing Day.

Yanbu
My dd is serving coffee on Boxing Day and New Year's Day

But people have to give up their lie ins and lazy family days so people can stay in hotels, go to pubs, restaurants, cinemas (both of these on Christmas Day as well) work in factories and manufacturing plants. None of this is essential work, but as in retail there is an expectation of working on bank holidays in all of these industries. But it’s only retail workers whose right to a peaceful day with their family is strongly defended.

Mumsnet are very against shops opening on Boxing Day, but on another recent thread a poster was inundated with suggestions she spent her Christmas Day in a hotel, with no thought given to the front of house staff, cleaners, managers, chefs and wait staff who would have to give up their family time to make that happen.

@liveforsummer

Lots of people referencing Next. They aren't opening on Boxing Day along with many other big stores. And while a pp has probably hit the nail on the head that it was a far easier decision based on the restricted Sunday hours and made to look like a kind offering to staff, I suspect others will follow suit by next year.

In order to open the store on the 27th, you need people to come in on the 26th to stock shelves, unload and accept deliveries, possibly change price labels because of sales etc

I never understood the mad scenes you used to see at the Boxing Day sales, each to their own

They shouldn't be open. I refused to work boxing day many years ago. We didn't even get extra pay for it.
I never shop on boxing day.

YANBU I don't understand why people struggle so much with shops being shut for two days. I used to work in retail, and with the amount of food customers would buy for Christmas I genuinely didn't understand why I would then see them there again on Boxing Day to buy even more!

Now out of principle I won't go in a shop on Boxing Day. Retail workers deserve the time off to be with their families too xx

I'm with you OP. It means all the prep has to be done on Christmas Eve as well.
No one really needs to be queuing up at Next at 5am.
If Covid has taught us anything it should be to appreciate retail workers and that slowing down a fraction won't cause the sky to fall in

@toastofthetown

I don’t know why this debate is only ever for shop workers. No one seems to care about hospitality or factory workers who also work Boxing Day.

Some hospitality workers even have to do Xmas day.

YANBU especially as people can shop online anyway. Retail is really busy in the run up to Christmas so I think it would be better for staff to have the time to spend with family.

I think people just need to organise themselves better.

We have become so materialistic and expect to get what we want when we want. With no regard for whoever has to work unsociable shifts. Retail isn't even well paid.