Government defeated on Sunday Trading
Posted: Wed 09 Mar, 2016 20.15
The Government today were defeated on proposed amendments to Sunday trading laws which would have allowed larger shops to trade for longer. As someone who has worked in some form of retail business for well over a decade, I'm apparently supposed to be 'relieved' at this defeat because it apparently will preserve Sunday as a special day for me. Yet I'm not. Without getting into the politics of whether or not it's hypocrisy that the defeat was aided by SNP MPs when Scotland does not have the same restrictions on Sunday trading that England and Wales do, I disagree with Sunday trading restrictions entirely.
Firstly, I very much disagree with any employee (and I'm an employee too, I'm not trying to speak from above here) willingly entering an industry in the full knowledge of practices that exist and then trying to hide behind technicalities that will allow them to avoid engaging in those practices. With retail, the only people I have any sympathy with when it comes to Sundays is people who have been in the industry pre-1994 and joined it in the genuine belief that they wouldn't have to work them. For everyone else (which will be the vast majority of the workforce after more than 20 years) they entered an industry which operates on Sundays and so it is reasonable to be expected to work them and to expect that hours of work may change as they may change on any other day of the week.
That said, regardless of what I think anyone in retail who feels strongly about Sundays does actually have the right to opt out of working them. Under the Employment Rights Act, retail staff (styled 'shop workers') have a right to refuse to work on a Sunday. This is a protected right which supersedes anything written into a contract (even if the employee has willingly signed a contract agreeing to work them), and anything even vaguely whiffing of reprisals for exercising that right can land the employer in a lot of hot water. I'm not aware of any attempt to withdraw that right as part of this proposal, and so those who have an issue with the change could opt out and get every Sunday off if they wanted to.
Furthermore, the idea that the current Sunday trading laws somehow afford retail workers a 'special day' on Sunday doesn't really cut much ice. The most common hours of 10AM-4PM might well provide a shorter working day, but the best part of the day (including the most common time for religious observance...as well as Sunday lunch with your Gran) is still taken up by work anyway...shaving an hour or so off at either end for the average worker doesn't make it akin to a day off.
And finally, the current legislation doesn't cover smaller premises - which include the bulk of SMEs and by not covering them it effectively doesn't work as a way of protecting the workforce anyway. I've experienced working for both small and large businesses, and I've found advantages and disadvantages to both. But one huge disadvantage to working for an SME is the lack of any proper HR. You are often working for people who have invested huge amounts of time, money and personal risk to make the business what it is and expect their employees to do the same. They often have little to no understanding of employment rights (often relying on generic contracts and internet advice) and they often care even less. If there is any sector of retail which most needs regulation and in which the workforce most needs rights, it is SMEs. Yet because they will typically have premises smaller than that which get regulated under current legislation, they are free to set whatever Sunday trading hours they see fit anyway.
And all of this is before you start dealing with the issue that those working the restricted Sunday hours themselves are disadvantaged on a Sunday by not being able to go to any other larger retailers before/after work since everyone is open for about the same hours!
Firstly, I very much disagree with any employee (and I'm an employee too, I'm not trying to speak from above here) willingly entering an industry in the full knowledge of practices that exist and then trying to hide behind technicalities that will allow them to avoid engaging in those practices. With retail, the only people I have any sympathy with when it comes to Sundays is people who have been in the industry pre-1994 and joined it in the genuine belief that they wouldn't have to work them. For everyone else (which will be the vast majority of the workforce after more than 20 years) they entered an industry which operates on Sundays and so it is reasonable to be expected to work them and to expect that hours of work may change as they may change on any other day of the week.
That said, regardless of what I think anyone in retail who feels strongly about Sundays does actually have the right to opt out of working them. Under the Employment Rights Act, retail staff (styled 'shop workers') have a right to refuse to work on a Sunday. This is a protected right which supersedes anything written into a contract (even if the employee has willingly signed a contract agreeing to work them), and anything even vaguely whiffing of reprisals for exercising that right can land the employer in a lot of hot water. I'm not aware of any attempt to withdraw that right as part of this proposal, and so those who have an issue with the change could opt out and get every Sunday off if they wanted to.
Furthermore, the idea that the current Sunday trading laws somehow afford retail workers a 'special day' on Sunday doesn't really cut much ice. The most common hours of 10AM-4PM might well provide a shorter working day, but the best part of the day (including the most common time for religious observance...as well as Sunday lunch with your Gran) is still taken up by work anyway...shaving an hour or so off at either end for the average worker doesn't make it akin to a day off.
And finally, the current legislation doesn't cover smaller premises - which include the bulk of SMEs and by not covering them it effectively doesn't work as a way of protecting the workforce anyway. I've experienced working for both small and large businesses, and I've found advantages and disadvantages to both. But one huge disadvantage to working for an SME is the lack of any proper HR. You are often working for people who have invested huge amounts of time, money and personal risk to make the business what it is and expect their employees to do the same. They often have little to no understanding of employment rights (often relying on generic contracts and internet advice) and they often care even less. If there is any sector of retail which most needs regulation and in which the workforce most needs rights, it is SMEs. Yet because they will typically have premises smaller than that which get regulated under current legislation, they are free to set whatever Sunday trading hours they see fit anyway.
And all of this is before you start dealing with the issue that those working the restricted Sunday hours themselves are disadvantaged on a Sunday by not being able to go to any other larger retailers before/after work since everyone is open for about the same hours!