Sunday trading restictions

[1 4]

Quote:

Sunday shopping refers to the ability of retailers to operate stores on Sunday, a day that Christian tradition typically recognizes as the Sabbath, a "day of rest". Rules governing shopping hours, such as Sunday shopping, vary around the world but some European nations continue to ban Sunday shopping. Sabbatarian Christians which observe Saturday as the Sabbath day oppose such laws.

How outdated and frankly silly is this law?

I know the UK used to be sticter than it is now, but gg's Top Tips post made me laugh

Quote:

Can anyone explain to me why God wants me to wait until 11am to buy a hammer on a Sunday. I can't find anything about it in the Bible.

Are there any Sunday trading restictions in your country?

[pie-eater 207]

It is ridiculous if you ask me.

Sit down and think about it people, and get rid of the mad law.

[Yuki's Passion 1]

In the southern part of the states you cannot buy alcohol at stores/supermarkets on Sundays! But, you can at a restaurant... You believe that? Biblebeaters give me the shits.

[pie-eater 207]

In the US though, are shops generally allowed to open as normal on a Sunday?

 

I think there is a limit of 6 hours or something in the UK, and limitations on what can be sold.

[Go Native 70]

Lets face it how outdated and frankly silly is belief in any god at all let alone restricting trading on Sundays.

[Yuki's Passion 1]

Pie, basically speaking yes, most places are open as normal but might open a bit later and close a bit earlier than other days. The one place that is closed on Sundays (for which I always had a craving for it on Sundays) is Chik-fil-A, the best fast-food restaurant and the only one I still have cravings for...

[pie-eater 207]

Interesting, thanks.

 

I wonder why the UK keeps these ridiculous laws.

 

I have heard the argument that being able to open 7 days a week would 'be bad for workers' or something but in 2010 that just sounds a bit absurd.

[pie-eater 207]

Found this

 

Quote:

The Sunday Trading Act 1994 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom governing the right of shops in England and Wales to trade on a Sunday. Buying and selling on Sunday had previously been illegal, with exceptions, under the Shops Act 1950.

 

Following the defeat of a bill to enable widespread Sunday trading in April 1986, compromise legislation was introduced in July 1994 in England and Wales, coming into force on 28 August 1994, allowing shops to open, but restricting opening times of larger stores i.e. those over 280 m2 (3,014 sq ft) to a maximum of six hours, between 10am and 6pm only. Large retail park shops usually open 11am-5pm, with supermarkets more usually choosing 10am-4pm. In central London, for example on Oxford Street, many shops choose to open from midday to 6pm. Large shops are excluded from opening on Easter Sunday and Christmas Day (when it falls on a Sunday).

 

Shops in Scotland, where Sunday trading was already fully deregulated, retained the right to open at any time. However the right for workers in Scotland to refuse to work on a Sunday was later conferred by the Sunday Working (Scotland) Act 2003. Northern Ireland has separate laws governing Sunday opening.

 

The Sunday Trading Bill had met with considerable opposition from the Lord's Day Observance Society and other groups such as the Christian Keep Sunday Special and the shopworkers' trade union USDAW. However USDAW finally agreed to support 6 hour Sunday trading in return for a promise that Sunday working would be strictly voluntary and premium pay would be offered. This decision played an important role in encouraging many Labour MPs to back the bill in a free vote-without this it would almost certainly have failed.

 

Quote:

Sunday trading in England and Wales was not generally permitted until 1994. This meant that shops such as department stores and supermarkets were not able to open legally. A number of specialist outlets were able to open legally, including garden centres, small "corner" or family run shops, and chemists.

 

An earlier attempt by Margaret Thatcher's government to allow Sunday shopping in 1986 was defeated in Parliament, with opposition coming from Conservative MPs who saw it as a threat to family life and church attendance, and Labour MPs who were concerned about workers' rights. This led to the formation of the Keep Sunday Special campaign, backed by church groups and USDAW, the trade union representing shop workers.

 

Several large retailers challenged the legal ruling in force before 1994 by opening on Sundays (or simply ignored them, since the fines were far lower than their Sunday profits),[citation needed] and the outcome was that the Sunday Trading Act 1994 permitted large shops (those with a relevant floor area in excess of 280 square metres.) to open for up to 6 hours on Sunday between the hours of 10am and 6pm, in practice this means that they open from 10am to 4pm or 11am to 5pm or 12pm to 6pm. Supermarkets usually open from 10am-4pm, whereas most other businesses open (and close) later. Christmas Day and Easter Sunday have been excluded as trading days. This applies even to garden centres, which earlier had been trading over Easter. In 2006, the government considered further relaxation of the permitted hours of business but decided that there was no consensus for change, although a popular poll indicated differently. Some local councils require official permission before allowing a store to open on Sundays.

 

Since the 1994 Act allowed stores to open, stores seem to keep to it meticulously, perhaps more so than before when they were flagrantly breaching the law by opening at all. However, there is a tendency to open half an hour earlier but not allow sales before the allotted time, to allow people to "browse" and thus effectively extend the opening hours of the store without breaking the law. For example in Birmingham in 2005 several stores opened seven hours, 10.30am-5.30pm, but would not have been able to sell throughout that time without breaking the law.

 

Scotland

 

Sunday trading laws in Scotland are not reserved to the United Kingdom Parliament.

 

In Scotland there was previously no general legislation regarding Sunday trading (until 1994 barbers and hairdressers in Scotland were prohibited by s.67 Shops Act 1950 from carrying out their business on a Sunday; current employment and licensing laws continue to have some consequential effect on general Sunday trading) with some matters left to the discretion of local councils. This lack of restriction allows opening hours of larger shops to be longer than in England and Wales, and many large supermarkets remain open seven days a week with little or no adjustment of opening hours at the weekend; there is no equivalent to the legal restriction on Easter Sunday opening that exists in England and Wales but opening on Christmas Day is very unusual.

 

In the Western Isles, where the Free Church of Scotland has a considerable following, there has been virtually no commercial activity on Sundays until recently. In most places the majority of shops which do not sell groceries or newspapers do not as a matter of course open on Sunday; in tourist and holiday areas there is typically an increase in the number of shops opening late and on Sundays during their particular tourist seasons.

 

Northern Ireland

 

In Northern Ireland, Sunday shopping is regulated under the Sunday Trading (Northern Ireland) Order 1997. Opening hours are more limited, usually between 1pm and 6pm. This was to create a greater gap between Sunday services and the opening of large shops, in response to objections from churches, which have more influence than in the rest of the UK. Pubs were not allowed to open on Sunday in Northern Ireland until 1989. These laws make Belfast one of the few capital cities in Europe to have absolutely no 24 hour shops in its city centre.

[klingon 10]

Quote:

with opposition coming from Conservative MPs who saw it as a threat to family life and church attendance

[klingon 10]

Slightly similar kind of subject, but does anyone know why hairdresses/barbers seem to all be closed on Monday in Japan?

[Tubby Beaver 209]

I was gonna say that I don't think its the case in Scotland.....but then you posted the regulations.

 

I remember going into supermarkets and the beer aisle was cordoned off and the blankets covered the stock....like alcohol was so evil on Sundays that even seeing it would turn you into the devil! What did they think?? I'd go in that shop and see that aisle on the previous 6 days, did they think I'd forget what was under there?? Its about time that Governement's kicked religion out of politics.

[thursday 1]

just go down the pub.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

pub didn't used to open until 12, then was closed by 3

[loaf of bread 0]

My Japanese friend have sometimes had a hard time understanding why shops are closed on Sunday - the busiest shopping day!! When you think about it, it is a rather strange thing isn't it.

[NoFakie 45]

Paper shop, pub, takeaway, 24-hour garage are all you need for a great Sunday though.

 

Read paper, go to pub, home for big dinner, sleep it off, watch footie, eat tea (scones/crumpets/toasted teacakes), pub again, takeaway, rizlas from the garage.

 

Shopping? Nah, no thanks.

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Unless, of course, you want to do your shopping on Sunday....

[HelperElfMissy 42]

The argument here in Perth against Sunday trading is that the people who are working on the Sunday wont be able to have any family time, they will be forced to work.

 

ummmm... I sorta think that people will shop when they want, and work when they want/need. For some families it makes sense to have Dad work Monday to Friday and Mum work Saturday and Sunday for a period of time - to get ahead, pay off a mortgage, meet bills - and not have to put the kids in daycare. For people in school/Uni - Sat and Sunday jobs are the bomb.

 

Hollow argument that one.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

Originally Posted By: loaf of bread

My Japanese friend have sometimes had a hard time understanding why shops are closed on Sunday - the busiest shopping day!! When you think about it, it is a rather strange thing isn't it.

yeah my girlfriend was puzzled as well, although nowadays most of the big shops are open on Sundays in my home town, tends to be the little independent traders that are closed. My girlfriend has been to Scotland now 3 or 4 times and knows my city pretty well, so the last time was for Xmas 2 years ago, she'd keep on saying "lets go....do this" but I'd say "nah, sorry thats closed bcos its Xmas", she didn't really understand a lot of things are closed for Christmas!

[thursday 1]

Sunday is more of a shopping day here than Saturday. Some office people still work on a Sat. Poor bastards. And when they have their free day, it's....... lets go shopping...

 

Good for the tourists too.

[bobby12 0]

Its like that with salarymen too. They spent their childhood cramming in juku, then had 4 years of fun at uni before going back to the 24/7 work routine at a company. When sunday comes, they know not what to do: either go shopping to spend the ruples they have earnt, or stay home and booze, watch baseball and indulge in a little DV.

 

Not that we stereotype or anything.

[JA2340 16]

Originally Posted By: bobby12

... before going back to the 24/7 work routine at a company. When sunday comes, they know not what to do ...

How many people do you know work 24/7? 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Not much time left for sleeping or eating or sex.