Sunday shopping

[Joe Republic]

I'm strongly against it. Like ZuWo said, in Austria/Switzerland/Germany mainly the Left and the Unions are strongly against the Sunday shopping. Studies have shown that if shops open on Sundays, it won't result in more profits for the shop owners because the high wage costs would eat up all the additional profits. A fixed sunday where most people are at home is also good for family life and I oppose everything that gives an employer the right to dictate the weekly life of an employee. This opinion is also shared by 85% of Austrians, according to polls. People can just wait until Monday and go shopping again.

Retail employees get paid more on Sundays in Europe?

[LastVoter]

I'm strongly against it. Like ZuWo said, in Austria/Switzerland/Germany mainly the Left and the Unions are strongly against the Sunday shopping. Studies have shown that if shops open on Sundays, it won't result in more profits for the shop owners because the high wage costs would eat up all the additional profits. A fixed sunday where most people are at home is also good for family life and I oppose everything that gives an employer the right to dictate the weekly life of an employee. This opinion is also shared by 85% of Austrians, according to polls. People can just wait until Monday and go shopping again.

I think your findings wouldn't be as true in America, because a lot more people shop on Sunday's here driven by consumerist culture. Also even if America had fair wage laws where people would get overtime(1.5x or 2x) on Sunday's shops could still stock up the stores and do other things that can be done at arbitrary points of time on other days of the week to prepare and evade the higher wage's needed to be given on Sunday's, for it to remain a profitable venture.

[Tender Branson]

I'm strongly against it. Like ZuWo said, in Austria/Switzerland/Germany mainly the Left and the Unions are strongly against the Sunday shopping. Studies have shown that if shops open on Sundays, it won't result in more profits for the shop owners because the high wage costs would eat up all the additional profits. A fixed sunday where most people are at home is also good for family life and I oppose everything that gives an employer the right to dictate the weekly life of an employee. This opinion is also shared by 85% of Austrians, according to polls. People can just wait until Monday and go shopping again.

Retail employees get paid more on Sundays in Europe?

Yes, the "Sonntags- or Feiertagszuschlag" is twice the hourly pay or an additional day off during one of the coming weeks (called "Zeitausgleich"). The historically strong Austrian "Sozialpartnerschaft" which consists of the Unions and Employee representatives can be credited for this strong protection of the employees. And you usually get 14 wages too.

[Joe Republic]

Okay, well since we're talking about Sunday shopping in the US, where retail employees get paid the same on Sundays as they do any other day, then that line of argument isn't really relevant here.

[LastVoter]

Okay, well since we're talking about Sunday shopping in the US, where retail employees get paid the same on Sundays as they do any other day, then that line of argument isn't really relevant here.

Well this is what I am trying to explain to our European friends, that US needs better labor laws, rather than banning Sunday shopping.

[Gustaf]

but then I'd also reduce the working week to 20 hours

Why?

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Actually in Britain opposition to Sunday trading has come almost entirely from the Left.

a) Why not? Far more leisure time, plus it's been shown that we could maintain our current standard of living even with FAR shorter working hours.

b) The Keep Sunday Special campaign seems to be an unholy alliance of TUs and Christian socons.

Eh, you don't really understand economics at all, do you? If everyone works half as much, the economy will be half as big. Since not everyone works it won't be precisely like that, but you get the idea (well, maybe you don't but people in general should).

In Sweden you also get double pay on weekends. But of course the labour market for people working behind counters is completely sh*t from the perspective of the employees, at least here. They have hardly any bargaining power since the number of young people wanting to work such jobs exceed the latter. Of course, that's something the left has decided they want, to keep wages up, so they shouldn't complain too much about it.

And I'm opposed to restrictions. It seems like a very heavy-handed way of dealing with an essentially narrow problem.

[dead0man]

Okay, well since we're talking about Sunday shopping in the US, where retail employees get paid the same on Sundays as they do any other day, then that line of argument isn't really relevant here.

Well this is what I am trying to explain to our European friends, that US needs better labor laws, rather than banning Sunday shopping.

If you work more than 40 hours in a week in the US, you get paid overtime (which is 1.5 times what you normally get paid).

(with some exceptions, but service industry types are NOT part of the exceptions)

[Indy Texas]

The main reason to have restrictions is to prevent employees from being forced to work seven days a week.

Quite so.

When you consider that there are virtually no full-time workers at most retail establishments, I doubt there's much risk of this.

Um... no.  I'm a full-time worker at my retail establishment, and so are twenty-six of my co-workers.

The company refuses to give us more than 40 hours a week, however, because then they are required by NV law to pay us time+half.

My point exactly. Making employees work more than 40 hours = overtime and benefits, so it wouldn't be very good to the bottom line to have people working 7 days a week.

[Simfan34]

I live in Bergen County, so I've dealt with these sorts of laws all my life, and I'm not a fan, it makes life considerably more difficult.