Page 22 | To think it is time to extend Sunday opening hours?

Sundayopeningplease · 2023-02-19T09:32:21+00:00

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.

Hawkins003 · 19/02/2023 23:26

hay5689 · 19/02/2023 23:25

Thank you for this thread tonight, it's cheered up a bunch of retail staff on shift until gone midnight.

The same people who want us open longer are the ones who shop on Boxing Day despite buying enough food to survive an apocalypse on Christmas Eve.

Sure we'll open but I can guarantee within a few weeks MN will be full of threads moaning about price increases because they'll have to cover the cost somehow.

Right now a Sunday late shift is lovely to work because we don't have customers and get 3 times the work done because we are not dodging children who've been allowed to run riot or people who decide to block a whole aisle so they can have a conversation. We are not kicking back with a margarita, we are working so please don't take the few hours a week we get with no customers away from us.

If you prefer the hours, and it's better overall I can understand your perspectives

Socrateswasrightaboutvoting · 19/02/2023 23:28

hay5689 · 19/02/2023 23:25

Thank you for this thread tonight, it's cheered up a bunch of retail staff on shift until gone midnight.

The same people who want us open longer are the ones who shop on Boxing Day despite buying enough food to survive an apocalypse on Christmas Eve.

Sure we'll open but I can guarantee within a few weeks MN will be full of threads moaning about price increases because they'll have to cover the cost somehow.

Right now a Sunday late shift is lovely to work because we don't have customers and get 3 times the work done because we are not dodging children who've been allowed to run riot or people who decide to block a whole aisle so they can have a conversation. We are not kicking back with a margarita, we are working so please don't take the few hours a week we get with no customers away from us.

Do you find that the general consensus amongst those working on a Sunday late shift?

Socrateswasrightaboutvoting · 19/02/2023 23:35

MichaelFabricantWig · 19/02/2023 22:24

Exactly. Seems to be just fine up here, I’m not aware that society here is away to hell in a handcart any more than England due to having longer Sunday trading hours.

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We have spent a bit of time in Scotland over the summer. Its seems to me that outside of the cities even the petrol stations shut early.

tobee · 19/02/2023 23:59

GreenistheGrass · 19/02/2023 23:14

This could be sorted really easily if we had decent workers' rights, an end to zero hour contracts, an end to worker exploitation, and affordable housing.

I'm willing to bet the wealthy SAHMs and people doing cushy WFH jobs with tons of free time being sanctimonious about "how dare you deny poor retail workers their precious Sunday roasts with their children" would rather throw themselves into the sea than lobby for leftie causes like workers' rights.

Yep exactly

hay5689 · 20/02/2023 06:01

@Socrateswasrightaboutvoting obviously I can't speak for everyone but this gave us something to think about tonight. Basically we know we are going to have to work x amount of weekends per month so given the choice nearly all of us would rather do a Sunday late shift when the store is closed compared to a Friday or Saturday. You only have to look at how entitled customers are to see why, a personal favourite was the woman who thought because her kids get up early we should open early.

CeriB82 · 20/02/2023 06:08

i don’t mind the slower Sunday pace and the 6 hour openings. What does grate on me is the 10-4 and 11-5. Please make it one or the other.

my nearest Asda opens 10-4, but the bigger store (inc homewear/clothes ) is 11-5.

and we don’t need a tesco store open 24 hours. 24 hour openings are ridiculous. Its not needed.

Scarecrowrowboat · 20/02/2023 06:09

I quite like it. Maybe big supermarkets could have longer opening hours as it does get completely chaotic there and longer sunday hours might spread it out a bit.

labamba007 · 20/02/2023 06:10

I used to work in retail and hated Sundays, getting dressed and commuting to work for just 6 hours? I'd have rather done a full day and got a full days pay, I'm doing it anyway!

Roselilly36 · 20/02/2023 06:23

I agree, the hours should change, increased hours could provide more jobs.

Alexandra2001 · 20/02/2023 06:46

Roselilly36 · 20/02/2023 06:23

I agree, the hours should change, increased hours could provide more jobs.

Longer opening hours just mean more traffic, more lorries and less quality time for everyone... of course the directors of Tesco etc wont be working on a Sunday, they'll be with their families.... or on the Golf course... laughing at our stupidity.

I believe Germany doesn't allow almost any shop to open on a Sunday or even a bank holiday.

Doesn't seem to stop them being Europe's largest and richest economy, with public services we can only dream of.

IndiaDreamer · 20/02/2023 06:55

Agree 100%. Amazon have moved with the times.

And of course Amazon are well renowned for being a fabulous employer, that treats their staff with respect and fabulous conditions.....

You want the country run like a gig economy? Because it's important that you want to shop between 5pm-10pm on a Sunday evening and at no other time?

IndiaDreamer · 20/02/2023 06:55

Roselilly36 · 20/02/2023 06:23

I agree, the hours should change, increased hours could provide more jobs.

It really wouldn't!

IndiaDreamer · 20/02/2023 06:59

labamba007 · 20/02/2023 06:10

I used to work in retail and hated Sundays, getting dressed and commuting to work for just 6 hours? I'd have rather done a full day and got a full days pay, I'm doing it anyway!

Of course what should have happened and used to happen was that you got double pay for Sundays. But of course lack of unions, the greedy employer wanting to make more and more stopped that and convinced everyone that Sunday wasn't any different to any other day. So people like OP want more time taken away from people on a Sunday because she wants to shop the few hours that the shops aren't open.

When I was working in retail, it was the beginning of no enhanced pay on Saturdays on Sundays.

IndiaDreamer · 20/02/2023 07:00

CeriB82 · 20/02/2023 06:08

i don’t mind the slower Sunday pace and the 6 hour openings. What does grate on me is the 10-4 and 11-5. Please make it one or the other.

my nearest Asda opens 10-4, but the bigger store (inc homewear/clothes ) is 11-5.

and we don’t need a tesco store open 24 hours. 24 hour openings are ridiculous. Its not needed.

But that would wind OP up if they both did 10-4, with them doing different times it's 7 hours availability not 6.

Kaftanesque · 20/02/2023 07:00

Good point about Germany.We went to Duisberg for a wedding and on the Sunday wandered around and absolutely loved how calm and clean it was.Families out and about enjoying themselves but shops closed. I honestly don't know why six days of retail plus all the online shopping available isn't enough to get everything you need,It's not even as if Supermarkets-which stock pretty much everything now- close at 5pm every day.

MissMaple82 · 20/02/2023 07:03

It's the Christian way. No I don't believe it should change. Sunday IS a day of rest, and it allows people to opportunity to attend church if they wish. Shopping isn't the be all and end all of life

Flounder2022 · 20/02/2023 07:36

MissMaple82 · 20/02/2023 07:03

It's the Christian way. No I don't believe it should change. Sunday IS a day of rest, and it allows people to opportunity to attend church if they wish. Shopping isn't the be all and end all of life

You know shopping wouldn't be compulsory right? You can go to church as often as you want!

CrappyJob · 20/02/2023 08:28

Socrateswasrightaboutvoting · 19/02/2023 23:35

We have spent a bit of time in Scotland over the summer. Its seems to me that outside of the cities even the petrol stations shut early.

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Sure. But not 4pm early. The supermarket that in work in closes at 10pm instead of 11pm.

The petrol station closes at 8pm instead of 9pm.

RufustheFloralmissingreindeer · 20/02/2023 08:33

saying anyone who shops on a Sunday is an entitled monster cruelly dragging poor retail workers away from their families (yet these same posters happily go to restaurants or the cinema on a Sunday

i don’t make comments like this but i do find it interesting that youve seen posters saying that shops should shut but they go to restaurants and cinemas etc

where was this? Its a big thread and I seem to have missed this

i did find it funny that on a few posts ive seen the poster saying (and im paraphrasing here but could possibly find one or two comments) that its nice for them to be able to do what they want at the weekend…forgetting that lots of people working in retail don’t get to do that

i work in retail but my current employer doesn’t open on sunday (and lots of the local shops dont open on mondays either…we do) our hours have been cut of the winter as well, at the moment we close at 4pm

RufustheFloralmissingreindeer · 20/02/2023 08:37

Friend of mine likes working sundays cos she doesn’t have to go and see her MIL 😀

RufustheFloralmissingreindeer · 20/02/2023 08:38

Oops posted too soon

but if she didn’t work sunday she’d have to work Saturday, so sunday is the lesser evil,for her

AnnoyedFromSlough · 20/02/2023 08:38

MissMaple82 · 20/02/2023 07:03

It's the Christian way. No I don't believe it should change. Sunday IS a day of rest, and it allows people to opportunity to attend church if they wish. Shopping isn't the be all and end all of life

So you think a minority should dictate what the majority can do? In the latest census, 46% of people in England and Wales said they are christian.

As has been said before, people have the right to opt out of working Sunday, so anyone that wants to go to church that day can.

Should other religions be able to dictate when shops are open? Shabbat would really mess things up for people that need to shop at weekends. Oh, and then the day of rest for people that follow Islam is Friday so better close then too...

Kladebs · 20/02/2023 08:43

For purely selfish reasons I like it the way it is.
I work the late shift Sundays until 10pm. Once 4pm hits, its so busy because the big stores are closed. The shift flies by and feel like I've been there an hour before its time to close.
There are still places open outside of 10-4 ( for example we're open 7-10 Sundays) so there's options for both sides of the debate already.

Rubyupbeat · 20/02/2023 08:43

I think they should shut all day, just like years ago. That would still be 6 full days of shopping, less pressure on shop workers and a day of calmness.
They even used to shut on Wednesday afternoons, that was up to late 70s, you just organised your week around opening hours.

AnnoyedFromSlough · 20/02/2023 09:23

Rubyupbeat · 20/02/2023 08:43

I think they should shut all day, just like years ago. That would still be 6 full days of shopping, less pressure on shop workers and a day of calmness.
They even used to shut on Wednesday afternoons, that was up to late 70s, you just organised your week around opening hours.

How is there less pressure on shop workers? They aren't expected to work 7 days a week just because shops are open?