To think that Sunday trading hours need to be abolished?

[HFJ]

I remember the hullabaloo about Sunday trading back in the late 80s

Whenever I talk to people about this, many usually give the following reasons why Sunday trading restrictions are a good thing:

1. Everyone can have Sunday lunch/family time together
2. Retail workers can have some weekend time off

However, I can’t be the only person who thinks the above is BALONEY

On the family time thing, I object for feminist reasons because it usually means a hard-working woman somewhere has to peel potatoes and rustle up a Sunday lunch for everyone else. Then, when she has done all that, can she treat herself to an emergency handbag, pair of shoes, just get away and meet a friend for coffee, or perhaps get the family shopping in on before the working week starts? Can she heck. Why? Because of some Bishops in the house of lords decree that the world should shut and therefore her indoors should remain indoors.

On the weekend time off thing, I really don’t see what the issue is. There are plenty of students who would like to and need to work. Also, there’s nothing to stop religious workers asking their employer to prioritise time off on Sunday for them (just as Muslims, Jews, people with caring responsibilites can make requests).

Am I the only one who feels this way?

We've been moaning about this since moving to England 25 years ago!

@GirrlCrush that's sort of the point....those things are traditionally Mon-Fri 9 - 5. So people who work/use them can't get to the shops then. On Sundays - when they could get to the shops - the shops are closed.
It doesn't make sense.

Yabu. People work enough. Every time working patterns are messed with employers demand more for less. As a pp said when Sunday opening first came about staff were paid double time. Now it's just another working day as every day and hour is. Employers have enough of us as it is. Don't give them any more.

I note that you're only referencing a woman who wants to shop in your OP. A woman whose leisure time is taken as given. Of course it suits this hypothetical woman that she has someone serve her when she pleases. However that means demanding that a second woman be available to serve as required.

@Ocani a lot of students want to work but ironically can't get jobs. Get them to work Sundays.

So who is going to staff Sundays? Because where I work people wouldn't volunteer to be in on a Sunday for their usual pay

We don't have any students

What for the two hours that regular staff aren't physically at the tills?

I think that would be a little difficult to coordinate.

That's never going to happen. Every other national holiday would go before Xmas day, and there's zero chance of those going so no need to even consider it.

We don’t have these rules in Scotland and as a student working in retail I was happy to do a Sunday shift as I would get a full days wages. If I had only been able to work a Saturday and a tiny part of Sunday I’d have been screwed financially as my parents more or less cut off anything other than necessities once I had a part time job. I had to pay all college related expenses , travel, toiletries, clothes, shoes, going out from a part time wage. Not being able to afford a winter coat one bitter year was certainly ‘fun’. Extra hours were always welcome to me.

@witchypaws by "students" I mean 6th Form age.
When I worked retail the weekend staff was basically all 16-18 year olds (except management/supervisors obviously) plus a few 15 year olds. They wanted as much money as they could earn. They jumped at extra hours.

So the rest of the world gets their Mon-Fri 9-5 and a break on the weekends but fuck retail, supply chain, transport workers and everyone else required to keep Sunday trade moving because I want I want.

I mean, we can pretend its all because feminism, but its' not, its because consumers feel entitled to go and consume whenever they like and want other people in place to enable it.

It's not just supermarkets though
We are retail but a contact centre and if retail is open, we have to be open

There's way too much to think about as opposed to just opening the shops
Childcare and public transport being the two main ones as well as staff not wanting to work Sundays (or longer hours on Sundays)

I already work Christmas Eve (if it's not a Sunday) then get 2 days off before we are back in and it would shorten that even more

I think it would be difficult to keep the whole distribution/logistics/public transport for staff shebang going if relying on 16 year olds.

@verv I don't get your point. A business needs to run and trade when it's relevant for their customer base.
I wouldn't open a teenage youth club that runs from 10 - 2 on weekdays because my customers would be in school. So I would open after school or weekends.
It's not relevant for many shops to be open at 9am on a weekday morning because the amount of customers is low. But many still do because "it's traditional".

@witchypaws what's a contact centre (in terms of retail)?

@Ocani obviously you would have fully grown adults in charge doing the grown up things 🙄
But a 15 year old can serve customers and restock shelves perfectly fine.

@enchantedsquirrelwood

there are still shops open in Germany (not sure about France) on Sundays.

Re- France, big change in the last decade or so now aside from a few local restrictions in places the big supermarkets are mostly open with limited hours on a Sunday.

A bigger practical problem many have is the lack of extended opening hours into the evenings, even in the week, especially in the more rural areas....

Oh you dont?
Thats a shame as I thought it was quite clear.

Put your theory of relevance into practice and watch the "I wanted to nip to the shops after the school run and it was closed AIBU" threads roll in.

Agree with you wholeheartedly.

Out of random curiosity I googled the biggest branch of Carrefour in France. It's one in a place called Villiers-en-biere. Here is a snapshot of their opening hours. 11 hours on Sunday!

Unless you work 6 days a week, 24 hours a day then you have every other day to go and buy your essentials, plus between the hours of 10 and 4 on Sundays. There is absolutely nobody who cannot get to the shops any other time but Sunday evening. I work 9-5 Monday to Friday and I manage to get what I need with Sunday trading hours in place. Maybe people need to organise themselves a bit better.

@Verv so where are all these "after the school run" shoppers then? I've been in shops at just after 9. There is usually barely any customers.

What's so special about Sunday any more? It's only a day of worship for one out of the myriad religions now practiced here. Why should everyone be restricted?

I like to get things done on a Sunday, not sit around.

I'm sure you do
students don't just mean university
I worked in a supermarket when I was at high school

I’ve no idea why you think that Sunday shopping hours mean women have to make a Sunday roast…batshit

Yep. I haven't made a Sunday roast in 5 years. Fuck that. Why do people here martyr themselves so much?