Should Sunday trading laws be abolished altogether?

It is not for a government to interfere in the decisions of whether a retailer chooses to open at any hour they wish (including the 25th of December and January the 1st), for an employee to work or not work on a Sunday or any other day, nor to interfere in the consumer’s desire to shop at the premises if they wish to do so.

Just because some find a particular day significant, does not give them carte blanche to coerce others to see that particular day in the same terms that they do. Peoples lives, provided they do not impinge upon the liberty of others lives, are none of our business. If only bureaucrats and “Keep Sunday Special” adherents would realise this.

Yes and no. I fear that large companies will try to intimidate employees into working, so these employees should have the protection of tougher work laws to defend their choice not to work on a religious day. And yes, if enough staff are willing and able to work and the store feels there’s a need to be open, then sure why not. I for one hate seeing huge signs saying open 24/7 hours yet I know the store is closed the majority of Sunday, late Saturday night and early Monday morning. So not really 24/7.

“I fear that large companies will try to intimidate employees into working, so these employees should have the protection of tougher work laws to defend their choice not to work on [their] religious day.”

AFAIK, employers already have to accommodate the religious observances of employees reasonably.

Do I live in a parallel universe? But I can go shopping any time during the week so what’s the fuss? Why shouldn’t I be allowed to go shopping any time? I ran my own business years ago and it ran 24/7, it wasn’t illegal and my staff were happy to work WITHOUT being forced to. As far as religion goes, have you been to church recently? Very few people attend now-a-days and it’s not because the shops are open.

as a shift worker including sundays i agree that sundays need to be relaxed, lots of people are working in a different way now especially with childcare so freedom to do what you like when you like is what is needed here.
The shops cant take more than they do, just a shift of when the money comes, when sunday trading started in the early nignties i was working on the ordering side at asda slough there was a shift from what was taken on the other days yes sunday was taking a days money but this reflected on less being taken on the other days particually monday and tuesdays, no shelf filling happened between fri and monday night (in those days) as prior to sunday trading there was a sunday fill who retrained to do other duties thus not taking on to many sunday rated staff, staff that worked in the rate did not usually work sundays so those of us that did recieved double time so it was good for those that wanted to work as the low wages were boosted, what has happened since then is the terms and conditions have changed to working sundays, no pressure was needed for staff to work and i believe its a myth that that pressure is put on to staff to work.

“Any [business] should have proper regard to its employees…[where they have] the same rights to enjoy a weekend off as the rest of us.”

I venture that this discussion is starting off on some misunderstandings. Citizens as employees do not have legal or human (natural) “rights” in regards to working and non-working days, only that they fulfil their contractual hours and obligations that they mutually -and more importantly voluntarily- agreed with their employer and in line with Employment Law. If they wish not to work on the weekend then they are, or should be free to do so, if they do not wish to, they are not obliged to (unless they agree contractually).

An employee can work any number of hours they wish, and Saturday and Sunday are days just like any other – if an employee wants to work some hours on the weekend and less during the week – it is entirely their business. Who am I, who are we, to suggest otherwise?

“Rights” are often misunderstood as a thing that we think that we are entitled to, or an “I want”. They are nothing of the kind. Some rights are legal, some are natural and intrinsic on the account of simply being a Human being, such as Life, Liberty (Freedom) and Property (the fruit of one’s labour or work). Every human possesses Natural rights. (See http://www.thephilosophyofliberty.com

Business thrives and is won by those who respond to the market and their clients. My Grandfather, a Hotelier and Caterer always said “You can’t be sentimental in business”

Again, Just because we find a particular day or days significant or not to be worked on, does not give us the authority to coerce others to see those particular days in the same terms that we do, and vice versa. Neither should that authority to coerce the direction of the citizens life lie with the government. Peoples lives, provided they do not impinge on the way that others lead theirs, are no-ones business but their own.

i woud like to know wether it is legal for me to open my small plant nursery less than 280sq mtrs
tomorrow (easter sunday )

Yes, as your plant nursery is under 280sq meters, you can open whenever you like. You are exempt from the Sunday Trading Act 1994. You could open 24/7 every single day of the year if you so wished.

“[The supermarket where I work has] a contract which states [employees] work any bank holiday, whether they are contracted to work on that particular day of the week or not”

That’s a contradiction in the employment contract is it not? Or at least unclear.

How can an employee agree contractually both to NOT work AND work on a particular day of the week?

All shops should be allowed to open on a Sunday for however long they wish.This is the 2012 not 1947,however i do believe that no one should be forced to work.The same should apply to all banks.People want to shop Sunday,London is a major tourist city,with shops closing at 6pm,Easter Sunday is bad enough with the closure of all shopping areas.Please move forward in life.This country has many people without a job,i am sure that they would be more than pleased to work until late Sunday evening.

It would be lovely if we could take a days rest on whichever day we chose, but this is impracticable, hence the selection of 1 day for all, in our history Sunday has become that day. The religious significance is the baggage that came with it and should not detract from the necessitates of allowing workers rest and recovery time.

The reasons that I [a look at my previous postings in different areas will find I am strongly against Government intervention in most areas] would back a dictate in this area is because in previous eras when employers are given free rein, [with the exception of a few] they will literally work people to death, removing them as they fall for fresh labour. History has proven this time and time again, it is only the Government / rulers/ sovereigns who have the power to dictate that the factory / mill / mine owners etc.. must treat their employees with a little humanity, hence in this case we have to rely on our ‘leaders’ to do the right thing and protect us all. Of course this cannot be done in a way to please everyone, but it does have at its root the desire to protect us all [now there’s a statement to conjure with!].

As for over production, modern consumerism is not driven by need, it is driven by desire created for things that are mostly unnecessary, the needs vs wants debate. I do believe that companies create desire through advertising, than feed this desire gaining maximum profits before creating the next trend.
The driving force behind mobile phone technology, was not intense production but competition for a created market, now we have thousands of mobile phones, all doing roughly the same thing becoming obsolete in a few months to be replaced with similar items, all draining Earths limited resources of rare metals. What happens to these phones? In 5 years most of what you see today will be in a landfill site or on a third world scrapheap being stripped down by some of the poorest people on the planet, and bits sold for a days food.
In reality we could probably manage with about 5 different mobile phone types. The same goes for most of this planets consumables, from batteries to airplanes to cardigans to saucepans. We produce too much and most of it is not for convenience, or betterment of mankind, but to sate the greed of a few money hungry cooperation’s.

I do agree with the sentiments, that we be allowed to work as we like, and do as we like [without causing harm to others], but in todays greed driven world it is just not possible.

i think there should be no restrictions on trading hours. people should be able shop whenever they want to. i don’t think it will effect the smaller shops, people shop in smaller shops because its closer to their home or they want to buy small items. i don’t think them being open on sundays gives them a huge increase in profit.

To the person felt that a superstore was to busy to shop in on a Saturday…lmao = Sundays are horrendous and attract a different breed of shopper.
The trading laws state continous trading of 6 hours only on Sunday starting at 10am , the superstore I work for is edging things a different way and to my mind breaking the law currently. In all the Sundays I have worked as a temp, only twice have they advised shoppers that they are closing and that was around 4.10pm, (ho hum closed at 4pm), the rest of the Sundays no announcement.
Our Supervisors tell us that we are not to leave our tills 4.30pm or until the last customer has left the shop, coming up to Xmas this means as told to me no announcements to customers, and if it means being on the till till 6.00pm so be it afterall I’m Xmas temp (won’t tell you how the superstore duped me into the job after applying for a permanent post, fuming yes, but getting people off JSA means you have no option, working for this store is like doing time!!, and the store very much understands what JSA requires its recipients to do when applying for jobs!!!).
The store is taking the michael, the customers are blissfully unaware of trading standards, and they have now come to expect the people on the till are there for their use as and when. What they don’t realise is the liberalism they are being allowed to perpetuate by the superstore is only because the store wants to extend its hours on a Sunday and thus will be able to claim there is a need.
In truth the only need there is, is theirs = money/profits. For those that say there aren’t enough hours given due to their work demands, baloney, we managed before simply by planning ahead which utilised some of the businesses that the superstore has now forced out of business. I find it strange that a large portion of the public are willing to be dumbed down. Moreover as is a popular conception amongst shoppers, due to their ‘wanting’ to shop on a Sunday means we are no longer paid double time, whilst serving them who get to choose what they wish to do with their Sunday and family, and at the same time expect us idiots not to want to finish a shift and be with ours!!!!!!!!!!!

Freedom comes at a price. Whilst I believe freedom is a good thing, if the big supermarketscan keep on making inroads into types of shop or trading hours etc. that previously were the domain of small traders, will people be happy when more small traders go out of business?

In addition, people don’t need to eat more or have more televisions, or clothes or anything else just because shops open longer, but the shops may have to employ more staff, so prices may creep up.

Well I take the Bible Sabbath on a Fri-evening to Saturday, so if I was to open a store I’d open Saturday evening for a short while, and then a bit on Sunday (though later start and earlier finish than Mon – Fri). Sunday usually ends up being a spare day for me too though due to more rest observance being put on Sunday despite it not being a Sabbath.

As a Christian who believes Saturday is the Sabbath day, and that I don’t have permission to change the day, so this is the day I don’t shop or work, at least until it gets dark. I am well aware that in today’s world, Saturday is usually a busier day than Sunday with more shops open, and less Saturday trading laws (except in Jerusalem). I usually do my shopping either on Sunday or Friday afternoon as my job often finishes at similar time to the closing of smaller stores by the time I’ve got through traffic.

If I was non-religious and had free reign of opening hours, I’d probably close on a Monday when more people were at work, but wouldn’t force employees to work either Saturday or Sunday.