Sunday Trading Laws

[TheDevilWearsPrimark]

Is it just me that thinks this is an antiquated law and should be scrapped?

Thought they pretty much had been?

you work in bloody retail and than say the bastards should be scrapped.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_Trading_Act_1994

Not at all. Hence 24 hour supermarkets close at midnight on a Saturday.

Well I've heard that before, that it is unfair on shop workers, but why?

Surely if you work a set number of hours then the days you work them make little difference?

Sometimes I feel like that, and other days, I think they should go back to shutting shops on a Sunday, after all there are 6 other days you can shop, and have a day when families can do things together other than go shopping.

actually, it does make a difference.

On Sundays if your shop opens, then you know you aren't going to be going home late or having to be in for silly o'clock in the morning. You will be able to spend at least a couple of hours with family who perhaps get the weekends off e.g children and partners who work in business.

If the laws were scrapped you could potentially end up having no time with your family except for holidays.

I assure you as well that retail companies will not increase the payroll allowances for more staff so you then have to spread staff even more thinly throughout the week just to come on at a minimum over budget.
They don't at Christmas when they insist on opening longer in the evening.

YABU

Why? Why do you need to be able to shop all day every day?

YANBU, but I prefer the French model where every business has to be closed one day a week, but they choose the day.

No I never have a 'need' to shop.

I take umbrage that Sunday is still a 'special' day, harking back to times when the Church of England actually meant something.

I wouldn't mind if say Wednesday was half day closing and schools/ offices closed too, that would be better in fact.

Erm, Sunday does still mean something to some people.

We do not live in a totally secular country (like France)yet.

My issue isn't a religious one, it's more about giving a shit about the workers really. The fact that people in retail generally only get 2 days off a year (and by this I'm talking about bank holidays) is fairly disgusting IMO.

I think keeping shops open all the time has a negative impact on independent shops, no? And I like independent shops.

No - in France shops aren't allowed to open on a Sunday at all, unless they are granted special permission (i.e. being in a touristy area etc).

Aw, my bad.

Okay then, I would prefer it if shops could be open normal hours, and then choose one day a week to be closed.

I know this is very selfish, but, I can't go shopping during the day, during the week, or Saturdays (for various reasons), so it would be nice to be able to shop on Sundays. Not that I spend my whole life shopping

Ah, I live in Scotland and used to work in retail, so no special conditions for me! I once spent over 18 months without a day off (apart from Xmas, but what with cooking a vast meal etc...)

YABU

I dont see why sunday should be any different to any other day. Shop workers are not forced to have 7 day working weeks whatever days work and many other jobs for example hospital or other care work jobs already have sunday as a normal working day. Also people who only spend time with their family when shops are closed have big problems if you ask me!.

YABU - how hard can it be to organise shopping on the other 6 days a week?

Not only that- if the person working in retail is a lone parent adn pays for childcare- how easy/ cheap do you think getting childcare is on a Sunday?

Serenity - You can go shopping on Sunday. Until 4 or 5 O'clock depending on the retailer.

I mean, the fact that people moan because they can't get into a shop on a Sunday before 10 or 11 or after 4 or 5 is utterly baffling to me.

I would be quite happy to going back to the days when only garden centres opened on a Sunday. Shops are open for an enormous amount of time and do not need their opening hours extended imo.

So what about shift workers, i.e nurses who might want to go shopping for sunday dinner/ something to eat when they get home on the way back from work at 5am on a Sunday, but can't?

I just don't understand it.

It isn't bad for workers at all...in retail, days off are just rotated around the staff so that it's fair to everyone. This is how it works in the US, and there isn't really an issue. I have more issue with the fact that everything closes so darn early in the UK...I mean, shops on the high street closing at 5:30 most days??? Crazy!! Can't get used to that at all...

Maybe they should plan to have food in the house before they go to work?

What if someone finished their shift at 2 in the morning and hadn't got any food in the house, it would be a case of tough luck really, or a ginsters pasty from the Esso station. Same rule applies I'm afraid.

Or are you advocating 24 hour opening, 7 days a week?

Yes, there is shopping between 11 and 5 or whatever, but sometimes there's also lots of other stuff that needs doing in that time.

Agree about shift workers, or else, why can't shops be open from say, 10 to 7 on weekdays? How many people do shops actually get in during "normal" working hours (9 to 5), and how many more people would they get in if people could go later in the day?

I agree - Oxford Street is at its busiest between 5 and 7pm, I suppose because people go after work.

Why open at 9.30am , who is actually in the mood to go clothes shopping then?