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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to not want shops open boxing day

133 replies

Moomoo75 · 20/12/2021 10:48

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? 😪

OP posts:
MargaretThursday · 20/12/2021 16:46

Totally agree. I think shops should be closed Christmas day and boxing Day every year.
I always think about the poor retail workers who work until late on Christmas Eve and then have to go in at 2am for a 4am opening on Boxing Day (yes, I'm looking at you, Next). They don't really get a Christmas day to relax at all with that.
Anyone who would shop on Boxing day could shop the day after.

Pazuzu · 20/12/2021 16:53

Much as I've got sympathy for those who are working the shifts (been there, done that), how come when it suits all retail becomes what sounds like 100 hour a week jobs then at other times zero hour contract nightmares?

Personally, I'd rather have worked Christmas Eve, Boxing Day etc. Double time and already in town to go straight out. Win.

woodhill · 20/12/2021 16:53

Yanbu

They don't need to open imo

Also the shops seem to get away with not paying their staff properly nowadays

I remember getting time and a half and possibly a day in lieu in the 80s

Original poster
Moomoo75 · 20/12/2021 16:55

Apologies if I offended anyone my intention wasn't to make this a debate solely about retail workers but since I am a retail worker and I posed the question then that is what this thread has primarily been about. I agree that all non essential work should be stalled over Christmas. I have a huge respect for all essential workers however and hope that they are rewarded appropriately.

It's just that When I was a child the shops closed, people enjoyed christmas and then there was a huge sense of occasion to go into the January sales. I am sad that all of that has changed. Where I work the sale prep is done on Christmas eve so they could reasonably hold off on the sale till the 27th.
Not everyone will agree of course. Anyway, seasons greetings to everyone. Stay safe and well.

OP posts:
Jayaywhynot · 20/12/2021 17:00

I love the boxing day sales, tradition in our house to hit the sales early on boxing day then have lunch out but I'm with you, retail staff shouldn't have to work over Christmas, I'm off from tomorrow and don't go back to work until 4th Jan, people in retail should have a proper break.

ThatNameAgainItsMrPlow · 20/12/2021 17:15

I thought shops were only open for a couple of hours in England on Sundays anyway.

Bakedbean22 · 20/12/2021 17:34

You really need to take a look at yourself if you are up at 5am for the Next sale on any their sale days, let alone Boxing Day. It's hardly an essential service.

gogohm · 20/12/2021 17:44

They aren't opening here, I think it varies by region. When I lived in a big city they asked for volunteers to work, because many people were Hindu or Muslim they were guaranteed their festival off in return for working Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, seemed to work well

AssignedNorthern · 20/12/2021 17:57

YANBU

EileenGC · 20/12/2021 18:01

I don’t love working Boxing Day either, but it’s domino effect in my job. As in, if I don’t work on the 26th people wouldn’t be able to watch our shows between 28th Dec - 2nd Jan. The general population would like that a lot less. Nowadays people feel almost entitled to entertainment during certain periods. Ditto with shopping centres… Society demands these 363 days a week!

BHX3000 · 20/12/2021 18:03

@Jayaywhynot

I love the boxing day sales, tradition in our house to hit the sales early on boxing day then have lunch out but I'm with you, retail staff shouldn't have to work over Christmas, I'm off from tomorrow and don't go back to work until 4th Jan, people in retail should have a proper break.
Then how would they staff the sales?
EileenGC · 20/12/2021 18:06

@converseandjeans

littlepearl

Actually I'd quite like to go back to shops being shut on Sundays too. I think it would give a better rhythm to the week.

I agree. When I lived in Germany shops used to shut Saturday lunch & stay shut until Monday morning so if you wanted food you had to make sure you had it in. People would just get used to it.

I’m in Germany. I have been known to take the bus for 25 minutes each way on a Sunday, to get to the only supermarket open in the city because I didn’t have something I wanted in… In a small town I probably couldn’t do that, so maybe I will move there Grin
BritWifeInUSA · 20/12/2021 18:10

@Moomoo75

Thanks for the replies. It ruins Christmas for me to be honest. I will look to change roles within the next 2 yrs. I work where I am because it suits the needs of my current situation family wise. Also my employer does not pay extra for bank holidays . For those who assume all retail might be well paid at this time, it is not for everyone. I know it comes with the turf. I'll get over it! I just needed an anonymous moan. Cheers all.
My mum was a nurse and often had to work Christmas. We just moved it to another day. Just a suggestion for something you could do. I know it would be better if the shops were closed Boxing Day (other countries manage to do it perfectly fine) but where work is unavoidable over Christmas just move Christmas.
Legoisthebest · 20/12/2021 18:44

I remember when the Boxing Day Sales were actually January Sales. Gave the staff a bit more time to organise price changes.

LittleRoundRobin · 20/12/2021 20:08

@Legoisthebest

I remember when the Boxing Day Sales were actually January Sales. Gave the staff a bit more time to organise price changes.
Yep, there was never any such thing as 'Boxing Day Sales.' the post-Christmas Sales' were the 'January Sales.....'

I may be misremembering but I am sure there was only one main 'sale' in the shops pre 1990s. The January Sales. They were HUGE and people used to queue up for 2 or 3 days to get TVs, and stereos, and even mink coats for a fraction of the price. Literally like 70-80% off. Not off everything, but off a few BIG sticker items, and there'd be 4 or 5 of each. If the sale was 2nd January, some people used to pitch a tent, and camp out from the afternoon of the 31st December.

Then there used to be a smaller, mid-summer (or end-of-summer) sale when shops wanted to get rid of the Spring/Summer clothing lines and suchlike. And that was it I think.

Now there seems to be sales every other bloody week. One big one is the dreadful 'Black Friday Sales.' (Started in the UK about a decade ago.) It used to be one day, then it was 'Black Friday weekend,' and THEN it was 'Black Friday week,' and THEN it became Black Friday bloody fortnight. THIS year it was Black Friday MONTH. Confused

Ludicrous. As I said, there are sales all year round now, and 80-90% of the stuff is shit they have had for several years, and can't get rid of!

gunnersgold · 20/12/2021 20:15

Which shop do you work in? I work in one synonymous for its Boxing Day sale but we are shut until the Monday because it's a Sunday .

Glitteryone · 21/12/2021 02:03

YANBU

I work in an office based role and I get 2 weeks off every year. I feel so bad for retail staff who get hammered throughout December and who don’t get a proper break over Christmas!

Anyone who doesn’t feel the same is heartless in my opinion.

RoseGoldEagle · 21/12/2021 02:28

It depresses me so much that after all the ‘buy buy buy’ in the lead up to Christmas, that all leads to a single day, and then it all starts again.

RoseGoldEagle · 21/12/2021 02:29

And yes, retail staff deserve more time off too.

AnotherThrowaway · 21/12/2021 03:26

Namechanged for this, but I work for a big retailer that's been mentioned a few times on this thread. I'm working til 5 on Christmas eve, and starting work at 7am on boxing day. We're absolutely not being paid double time for either day. A coworker looking to travel to visit family was told she would work those two days or she would be made to leave. Boxing day is mandatory regardless of your availability on your rota, and is additional hours on top of your contract. There are a lot of assumptions on this thread and they're largely not true in my experience at least. I'm absolutely not saying retail is the sector that has it hardest, and I'm not even necessarily saying shops should shut on boxing day, but some people definitely think there are more benefits for us than there are.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 21/12/2021 05:14

@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.
I work in a factory and we don't work boxing day, we close over Christmas and New year, it's very common in our industry.
Waxonwaxoff0 · 21/12/2021 05:17

@Bakedbean22

You really need to take a look at yourself if you are up at 5am for the Next sale on any their sale days, let alone Boxing Day. It's hardly an essential service.
Agree, people who do that are embarrassing.
Cotswoldmama · 21/12/2021 05:20

I work at a big chain and we're closed boxing day. We're open Monday the bank holiday in lieu but I actually want to work that! We get paid either time and a half with holiday if the hours worked owed back to us or 2.5 times pay! I've volunteered to work all day!!

LuckyLuckyWoman · 21/12/2021 06:41

I work in retail, but even when I didn't, I didn't think shops should be open on boxing day.

No double/time and a half for working bank holidays these days.

Just because you work boxing day this year, that's no guarantee that you will be off next.

This year we are working late Christmas eve to get the sale ready. Thankfully as boxing day is a Sunday that means no 5am start.

Also working Christmas doesn't mean you get new year off.

toastofthetown · 21/12/2021 07:50

@Waxonwaxoff0 I also work in manufacturing and the only days we close officially are Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. And many years the factory also opens on NYD despite planned closure. That’s common in my industry. Fortunately I’m office based so can take those days of regardless but many of my colleagues aren’t so lucky.