To think it is time to extend Sunday opening hours?

[Sundayopeningplease]

It really is time for the restrictive Sunday trading hours to be lifted. The archaic laws have not kept up with modern society.

Sunday may traditionally have been a family day but there have been a lot of changes since then. People are in increasingly different family set ups. The working hours have changed for a lot of people and being able to shop on a Sunday morning would improve things greatly. It would help trade for businesses too.

Sunday is now a major shopping day and the hours need to reflect this.

Nope - I love quieter Sundays.

In fact, most shops here shut on Sundays and they still do half day closings on Wednesdays too 🥰

Imagine no shops open at all on Sundays (other than newsagents in the morning) and all shops closing on Wednesday afternoons. No late night shopping whatsoever.

Some of us do 😗

We've got it good now but on the neg side OMG the temptation to keep on spending is a worry.

I agree, maybe there need to be regulations to protect staff, but the current regulations are very out of date.

Maybe retail staff want to have more family time on a Sunday?

You realise plenty of people actually want to work on a weekend, not least for childcare issues.

Great - so they can work in lots of the other industries that open weekends.

I don't think they should open longer. Maybe instead of some supermarkets turning the lights off in areas of their stores to save money like they're doing at the moment, they should think about cutting opening hours. There's no need for them to open 24/7.

No. I would prefer them to be shut all day. Retail staff need a break too. There is no need to have to be shopping all day every day. Shopping for many is not an entertainment or a fun family day out. Families need to have time to be together - including those who work in retail. My local Tesco is open 24 hours a day. There is also the option to shop online. Those people so addicted to shopping that they find Sundays difficult have plenty of other ways to access the shops.

Why do you need shops to be shut to have a slow Sunday?

I've always liked the French way - open early and shutting between 12 and 1. Then a lazy Sunday afternoon.

6 hours open is plenty enough time but I wish it would be time shifted for supermarkets. I could have been up and done a supermarket shop and be home again 2 hours ago but my nearest supermarkets don't open until 11.

I wish galleries, museum's and other Leisure / cultural stuff would open longer on Sunday and tbh other days. I feel like other place who aren't restricted by the law but take shops as a lead.

In Scotland, so it doesn't apply to me, but I'm always completely bewildered by this. I get my shopping online now, but I always used to go shopping at 7pm on a Sunday, as weekends were busy having fun, and it was the only time to fit it in.

I've found a few times when I've been on holiday to England it has meant having to plan our day around the supermarket. E.g. I'm planning to arrive at a self catering place on a Sunday at the height of summer. We are planning to do an activity off site from 3pm - 6pm, and check-in is 4pm. So we would need to leave food in a hot car for 4 hours, or plan to arrive a different day, or pay for earlier check-in.

Obviously, not a common consideration, but it must be annoying, having to plan around opening hours all the time, rather than being able to take 24/7 opening for granted.

I agree OP.

And I don’t understand the argument for “giving everyone a weekend off” in this day and age. A lot of people don’t want the weekend off, precisely because they can juggle childcare better between two parents if one can work Mon-Fri and the other picks up a shift or two at the weekend. Time off as a family is a luxury they can’t afford.

Retail workers have a right to a relaxing Sunday too. Capitalism has ruined a lot in this world.

Also try living in NI, shops only open 1-6 it's a pain, but I was once a young Retail worker whilst studying and it was often the only day I had for a lie in with college and work the rest of the week.

Or you could have planned ahead and gone yesterday.

@Plumbear2 yeah I already said that, and I said it was my problem.

@calimali but you’re expecting MNHQ staff to be in on a Sunday. Don’t they deserve a break? Why can’t you MN on weekdays only, you don’t need to be doing it 24 hours a day.

I think it’s fine as it is. Always liked it in the UK. As opposite to Poland
that has maybe 1 Sunday a month where shops are open or Germany where some lands have shops open, some don’t. Annoying.

I feel sorry for the shop workers being forced to chop and change their hours all the time on zero or low hour contracts. I think they should bring back Saturday (or Sunday) jobs where it’s people who want those hours, rather than part timers who have no option but to work unsociable hours.

I like using early Sunday closing hours as an excuse to run to the shop without kids because "they'll slow me down and I won't get sorted before it closes"

Totally agree, OP.

The present rules are out of touch with how busy working people lead their lives.

Sorry but this is just pathetic. Have you worked much in retail and the service industry? Honestly I’m glad I’m out of it but in the last few years customers have become incredulous. Even now you see them streaming into Tesco 15:50 on a Sunday as if the shops will never open again. With the instantaneous nature of Amazon, next day and same day delivery people have just gone bonkers. Yes people have different family set ups - don’t you think those who don’t need to start work until 10/11am might enjoy a slow morning with their kids or spouse on a Sunday. Could you not have done your shop Saturday evening or been more organised with the online shop?

Quite.

It is ridiculous.

All the idiots always say "What about Saturday?" and seem to (pretend to) not understand that some people work Mon to Fri and Sat so Sunday is literally the only day and it's v irritating that they cut the opening hours down to 2/3rds of what they would normally be.

Or they pretend it's "in the best interests of the shop workers". I was a shop worker for years and the audacity of people trying to stop me from earning money (I'd do a 7 day week somstimes) because they knew what was in my best interests, over and above me.

This thread is kind of ironic considering all the MNetters who only want to WFH and have a better work/life balance.

@coffeecupsandwaxmelts exactly, there are plenty vacancies in health and social care