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.

This is not true at all.

Most supermarkets have staff on fixed rosters (i.e. your initial discussion on hours is that you will work 12 hrs Fri/ sat/ sun starting at 0700 rather than being set hours a week ahead) so you negotiate then.

Also flexible working laws still apply.

Also employment laws apply.

Its no different to rostering a Monday or any other day of the week.

I work on Sundays, and on Bank Holidays and holidays like Christmas day and new years eve/day etc. I work in hospitality so not an essential service and I wish people were as determined to give us some family time off as they are shop workers. (I don't actually think shops should be open longer on a Sunday by the way). We don't get paid much extra, if anything at all, for those days either. I got 50p more an hour for Christmas and that's it.

I don't need to have a slow Sunday. I just think it's a non issue. Shops are literally open 7 days a week, with deliveries every day 😕

I have worked in retail. While no one is 'forced' to work Sundays (unless they were already working there before 1994, in which can they cannot be made to work Sundays) in reality your life is made very unpleasant if you don't work on a Sunday. Very few people in my store wanted to work Sundays so the managers always had a struggle filling the rota. There were staff who stood their ground and said no, so it was always the same few that ended up on the weekend shifts. Every week.

I had children in school at the time and I really wanted to be with them at the weekend, or at the very least one of the weekend days. I stuck it out for nearly two years, but in the end I was lucky to get out into an office job when I had far more family friendly hours. If we had the old Sunday trading laws at least one of my weekend days would have been protected.

I agree OP. I think it's daft having different opening hours on Sundays these days. Seems a bit crazy that shops are open until 10pm or even 24hrs every other day of the week but on a Sunday you've got a smaller window of opening hours. Mind you, I hate Sundays because I don't like the slower pace. I totally get I'm probably in the minority there though....

If you don't want to work weekends, don't take a job that involves working weekends

So you work from 6 in the morning until 11 in the evening 6 days a week? I don't believe anyone does so shops don't need to be open on Sunday.
I bloody hated retail for this (and many other) reasons. People who say they work Sunday because of children, well they can work Saturday or evenings
And I'm sure those who work on a Sunday might like to see their family or friends at some point on that day.
I remember when only newsagents were open Sunday morning, so much better.

Shops around where I live that open on Sundays usually start at 11, some at 10. Small shops for things such as milk open earlier.

Is it really that inconvenient, are you incapable of a small amount of planning? And how many people who advocate longer shop hours on Sundays ever work on a weekend themselves?

I work in retail and absolutely not! The only days we are shut is Christmas Day and Easter Sunday you have 6 and a half days to shop!

@LlynTegid

Me.

My contract is 24/7

Presumably you won’t mind working at 10/11 pm Sunday night?

completely agree OP! Businesses should be free to open any time they like.

Can we not have just one day without wall to wall shopping?
I remember when supermarkets opened 9-6 monday- thurs, late night till 7 Friday. Closed Bank Holidays . I worked it retail back then and I don't remember anyone starving through lack of shopping opportunities. We were even closer boxing day shock horror!!
I also remember when the January sales actually started in January rather than boxing day!!

YABU

If you are working or busy 10-4 on a Sunday then do your shopping on a Saturday.

Most shops are open 24 hours Mon-fri and until 10pm on Saturday.
There is also online shopping available.

Why would they pay staff to open the shops later on a Sunday when there are plenty of opportunities to shop at different times or days.

@Vloader23 yep - in theory.

The reality is very different.

I did clothing retail for six years and nobody worked a fixed day contract. It was five days over seven "to suit the needs of the business" - if you couldn't accommodate Sundays or weekends you wouldn't get the job.

If you got the job and refused to work weekends, you'd be told to leave 🤷🏻‍♀️

But other jobs are essential - NHS, paramedics, emergency plumbers etc.

It's not essential for shops or cafes or cinemas to open on a Sunday 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yes, if someone said they were unavailable on a Sunday during application process, many retailers would not consider them.

I think the laws should be relaxed yes. It would be up to the individual companies as to whether they want to then alter their hours, and up to individuals as to whether they want to work on Sundays.

So your sample of n=1 represents your experience in a different industry.

My experience in an actual supermarket is as I described - you discuss your fixed hours initially so no 'forcing' anyone to work days/ times not required. Even if it was different the main argument here is that 7pm on a Sunday is no more sacrosanct than 7pm on a Monday.

If you're only hired for Sunday work and you opt out of Sunday working then you'd lose your job so it is true in some circumstances.

Also the issue is that if you agree to say a 15 hrs contract of 3×5hr shifts over Fri/Sat/Sun and then decide you want to drop the Sunday by opting out of Sunday working, as is your legal right, the company are not obliged to give you 5hrs on another day/time of your choosing so you're risking losing hours which some people can't afford.

Additionally if a place does rolling rotas where everyone has to work the weekends but there's an alternation (eg 2 week rolling pattern weekend in/weekend off; 4 week rolling pattern Saturday/full weekend in/Sunday/full weekend off; or a general rolling 4day on/4 day off shift pattern) then by opting out of Sunday working immediately upon being hired then you can be fired for not working Sundays as you have been employed for less than 2 years unless your contract explicitly states you don't have to work Sundays.

Also if you're on a zero hour contract and opt out of Sunday working then the company can just stop scheduling you at all if they have someone else who is more flexible over a 7 day rolling schedule.

So no you won't lose your job just because you opt out, but it can be made 100 times harder to keep it.

1-6lm in NI. I hate it. Our Saturdays are filled with dc clubs. Sunday we like to go round the shops and go to coffee shop. 1pm is so late if you want to get back with enough time to make a Sunday roast.

We have online 24/7/52 shopping, 6.5 days a week physical shops, if anything they could reduce opening. If someone cannot organise themselves over 6 days and/or online, that's on them.

Well sure, if you're hired for Sunday working and don't want to work Sundays then you're just a bit of a lemon aren't you?

Lots of places open 24 hours daily all week. Our local shopping centre (Merry Hill) is open 9am-9pm every day of the week.

Don’t you think retail staff have families?

@MissMarplesbag

say what???

people are responsible for their own spending, no matter what hours the shops are open!

As to shorter hours/shut/longer hours. Personally I don't care & I can see the arguments for all of them. Problem is, there are valid arguments for all the options. You're not going to make everyone happy.🤷🏻‍♀️