To think most shops should be shut on Sundays

[withthefeelignofgreece]

I have family in Jersey and over there most shops are shut on a Sunday.
AIBU to think this could be a good idea to introduce here in the UK?
It would give retail workers a Sunday off every week from having to work.

And yes shop staff can opt out of Sunday working. Again, not seeing why they’re a special case compared to other jobs with anti social hours.

It's like the abortion argument, people try to force their opinions on others.

I don't want to have an abortion so I don't have one. If you don't want to shop on a Sunday, don't - it's a lot easier of a decision to make, with fewer long-term consequences.

Tbh working in retail the people who piss me off are the ones who say - oh you really shouldn't have to work Sundays/Bank Holidays while they are in doing their shopping on Sundays/Bank Holidays. Bit hypocritical innit 😂😂

Alright I should probably caveat my post 😀

a lot of people hired to work in shops in the last ten years or so can’t opt out of weekend working and dont get paid more for doing so

every i know working in shops cant opt out and don’t get paid extra (including any working past their contracted hours in the case of a few high street shops)

i don’t doubt that many people on long term contracts can opt out

shouldnt have made a definite no they can’t….in the same way that others shouldn’t say that everyone can (not that you did 😀)

For those of us who fill the empty void in our hearts doing frivolous stuff like going on MN, maybe we also need to campaign to have MN shut down on Sundays in order to give the people who run it a day off?

Also we can’t have frivolous pubs, restaurants, cinemas, TV companies, gaming sites and the entire internet working on Sundays - it’s not fair making staff work then. Shut it all down.

Yes

or Christmas Eve

Or boxing day…boxing day is worse

F*ck that idea. No thank you.
Did you think retail workers worked 7 days a week or something 🤣

If the labour shortages continue and retail don’t want to address it by paying people better, or cannot afford better wages and contracts, the shops might end up shortening their opening hours.

Most women didn't work in those days, so could shop weekdays. Now when would people shop if not at weekends

Absolutely not and I personally think the shortened hours on Sundays are well outdated and should be changed. Only a tiny percentage of the population see Sunday as a special or religious day in any sense. The vast majority of people would find it more convenient to be able to shop normally on one of their only days off. Yes retail workers have to work Sundays but then they have a different day off. Most are happy with that. Working weekends is the nature of retail if you want a 9-5 job choose a different path.

a lot of people hired to work in shops in the last ten years or so can’t opt out of weekend working and dont get paid more for doing so

As far as I know, in the UK they have a legal to, so I don't see why they 'can't' opt out. I don't think there are any caveats like size of shop etc, but I could be wrong on that. One of my contacted working days is a Sunday, and I still have the option to opt out.

I'm not saying everyone gets paid more on a Sunday - but there are still jobs available that do pay more for Sunday working. As you say, there are often jobs for weekend working available, so if people wanted to, I'm sure they could find one that pays more.

Yes.

I’d imagine they don’t consider the stalls at farmers market they go to on Sunday morning to buy artisan jam as ‘retail’ either.

And the ones on MN still want moderators on a Sunday too.

It was like that and changed maybe 20 odd years ago .We are in the 21st C now and people work different shift patterns .I doubt anyone wants to return to those times!

As a pp said, have you never listened to The Smiths? Sundays were deeply depressing before shops could open. No thanks.

Yep, I think it's a great idea. We always used.

These people usually tend to be the progressive, middle class types, living in leafy towns

Really? Have you done a survey? Or are you needlesly middle-class bashing?

Why?

Saturdays and Sundays are the only days where many people who work full time during the week can shop and it gives retailers the ability to get more people in their stores. That applies to small, independent shops that would struggle if they could not open at weekends, not just the big retailers.

You can have days off work during the week as well...

Sundays off are linked to religion and not many people go to church on Sundays anymore...

Would you close everything on Sundays then? restaurants, cinemas, theatres, swimming pools...and just have a miserable Sunday watching TV?

Quite clearly the latter. As always.

Oh good grief no, that would be such a backward step. Sunday laws should be relaxed and brought into line with the rest of the week. The short opening hours are just stupid and pointless.

Yes, or same sex marriage. Don’t approve of same sex marriage? Don’t marry someone of the same sex! Easy

No, the Sunday trading laws are already fucking draconian and outdated.

I wasn’t advocating for Sunday closure. I was just pointing out that most of the people arguing for this don’t seem to be doing it for keeping the Sabbath. It’s because they say workers should not have to work all week. I agree that in modern Britain, having shops open is a good thing and those who don’t want to use them don’t have to.

I TV either. People have to be at work doing all the infrastructural stuff. To broadcast the TV. And some of them are working on live programmes too.

The kinds of people sneering about mindless consumerism almost certainly see days out to stately homes or watching live tv about politics as more worthy endeavours. So it’s fine for everyone to work on a Sunday for that. Even though no one needs a National trust cake.

That’s not middle class bashing; it’s a response to the sneery crap that comes out about people who go shopping on Sunday. The thread is full of that.

I think the shops should be shut on Sunday. It would give all retail workers a day off and it would give everyone else a break from consumerism.

I get days off. Last week I was off Saturday and Sunday, this week I'm off Wednesday and Thursday. If I have something on I can also request to have a certain day off if I know early enough before the schedules are done. It means I don't have to take time off of work to go to the optician, dentist etc.

The only thing that annoys me about working Sunday is that the buses are hourly instead of being every 20 minutes.