Should big shops open on St Stephen's Day for the sales?

Those people are sad cases imo

I worked a Christmas day years ago, and I've worked a couple of Steven's days, St Patrick days etc. It never bothered me. The day always flew and I always got at least time and a half. There was usually craic after work too.

Now I get two weeks off at Christmas and it's bloody brilliant, but in my misspent youth I was happy enough to go into work on those days. People who are far from home, struggling to pay bills, trying to avoid temptations like booze or just lonely might also be glad of the distraction of a busy day at work.

I have no interest in going shopping but I'm not going to condemn anybody who has.

The following should apply, by law.

All stores and hospitality should be closed on Christmas Day, with the exception of small convenience stores and petrol stations, which may open for no longer than 2 consecutive hours at any time of that day, with a mandatory pay rate of quadruple time, for anyone rostered to work. There will be no off-licence sales.

All stores should be closed on St Stephen's day, with the exception of the above retail types, which may open for 4 consecutive hours, subject to all the same conditions. There will be no off-licence sales.

Hospitality on St Stephen's Day, should be able to open from 3pm to 11pm, if desired, subject to quadruple time for all staff rostered. Again, there will be no off-sales.

If Christmas Day and/or St. Stephen's Day fall on a weekend day, the consequent public holiday on the following Monday or Tuesday, should see restricted trade, with all retail restricted to 12 Midday to 6pm, and hospitality subject to St Stephen's Day restrictions, as above.

Further, Easter Sunday should follow St. Stephen's Day rules and new Sunday trading, throughout the year, should restrict ALL retail to 12-6pm and eat-in and licenced hospitality from Midday to 11pm only. There should be no off-licence sales at all, on any Sunday.

Pharmacies will be exempt from all of the above and may open subject to usual local cover arrangements.

People are the most important resource in our economy, the law does not protect working time, or leave entitlements rigorously enough, especially when it comes to migrant service workers.

And so, the least society and the government CAN do, is ensure two brief breaks from labour in a long year. I wouldn't be inclined to accept any argument from retailers about tying their hands, as many European countries don't permit Sunday or Christmas trading at all, and people easily adjust to buy what they need, for the other 310-360 days in the year that they are available.

Lots of people aren't Christian, aren't big drinkers or don't like being stuck at home for days on end.

I think the drinking thing might be a bigger factor than people think. Christmas gatherings can be very tedious for non-drinkers.

Maybe if we hear from somebody who worked yesterday despite begging for the day off I might be sympathetic but my own experience was that it really wasn't so bad, no worse than any other weekend really, but with better pay.

I know a chap who puts in for a Christmas day shift every year and gets it. Then he tells his wife that the business owner wouldn't give him the day off. Usually he's pretty devoted to his wife and kids but he just can't face dealing with his wife's entire family for a full day.

The Minimum Unit Price law has sent millions of people from as far away as Cork up to the North for cheap alcohol. Your new laws would finish off retail in the South completely.

I don't care about Hinduism, or really Christianity to be honest.

What I care about is people, and it so happens that we've got a Country here that has evolved around the Gregorian calendar and Christian (though not all) festivals, and when it comes to Christmas the Irish tradition is to take a break, and that has been eroded for so many people over the last 30 to 40 years.

I don't think its too much to ask all commerce, to permit 1 total shutdown day and 2 other mostly shutdown down days every 365 and limit trading to half days every 7th day.

So if individual business owners want to close to celebrate Diwali or Eid-al fitr or Rosh Hashanah, or whatever floats your boat, then its a free Country to do so. What I want is a mandatory down time, to include those guys that work in Asian owned shops from 7am-11pm the rest of the year.

And whether its they, or you that complains about the majority of this Country living by a now highly secularised Judeao-Christian framework, I'd give the same response; the Airport is that way.

While Christmas is a religious holiday, the religious element is not as relevant to many people now. Many still celebrate Christmas though.

Remove religion altogether and it's a great time to have time off work during the darkest, dreariest days of the year.

Seasonal and Sunday trading

When can shops open on Sundays in Northern Ireland?

Guide

In Northern Ireland large shops can only open on a Sunday between 1pm and 6pm. They are defined as retail businesses with a floor area of more than 280 square metres (3,014 square feet).

Smaller shops with a floor area of up to 280 square metres (3,014 square feet) can open whenever they choose.

Shops exempt from Sunday trading rules

Some categories of large shop are exempt from the restrictions placed on opening hours. They are:

• off-licences selling only or mainly alcohol
• airport and railway station outlets
• service station outlets
• registered pharmacies selling only medicinal products and medical and surgical appliances
• farms selling mainly their own produce
• outlets wholly or mainly selling motor or bicycle supplies and accessories
• suppliers of goods to aircraft or sea-going vessels on arrival at, or departure from, a port, harbour or airport
• exhibition stands selling goods

They can.

No one is stopping them.

But forcing ALL shops to do it at the same time is just massive state overreach for no real gain.

If you really care about workers, increase paid sick-leave to internationally comparable levels, and give more annual leave.

Lots of people don’t celebrate Christmas or are indifferent to it and have no issue with working over Christmas. There’s a core of Christmas Nazis who expect everyone to want to be living some sort of hallmark card Christmas that they strive for. If the shops want to open so be it.

It’s like the old Field of Dreams movie.

if you build it he will come.

so long as people want to keep consuming. There will be shops open to cater for it.

So absolutely nothing like Sharia law in any respect whatsoever, yeah?

And I've adapted it from a look at a selection of the trading laws in other EU Countries, and in Northern Ireland.

So maybe you'd want to start ringing around and telling these Countries that they're operating Sharia Law, completely without knowing it. A, is for Austria.

Why not let the shops open but not force any customers to go to them?

Responsible adults, free will and all that stuff...

The staff who do the cleaning and stock the shelves would have to come in well before 1pm.

Who said anywhere that it should be unpaid?

Public holidays are paid entitlement at flat rate.

Middle aged men who like telling everybody else what they can or can't do.

Currently retail staff who work on Stephen's Day get paid for that day and also get another holiday Day to be used later on.

Those who are taken on as Christmas temps typically get paid out for the extra day when they leave. Other take it at time which is mutually convenient for them and the employer.

Under your proposal, they would only get the compulsory paid holiday wherever of not it is convenient for them.

If I was willing to work any part of the 26th, I would go for as many hours as I could get. I wouldn't enjoy the extra lie-in much knowing that I would only get paid from 1pm instead of 9am.

Because you won’t be forcing customers, but you will be forcing staff…

look retail is insanely busy up till Christmas, just let people have a couple of days off. If anyone deserves it….it’s retail staff..

It was just an idea. I find staff are generally good at swapping shifts themselves without leaving the shop short-staffed. On a side note I've in various industries. The best by far for comraderie and looking out for each other are retail and hospitality, the worst paid.

Can you show some evidence of this?

I'm in retail for over 35 years and have never known staff being "forced" to work.

Generally you will have horse trading on days over the Christmas period between staff. Off Xmas eve, work Stephen's day, off new year's Day. Staff with young children get 3 or 4 day blocks.

I've been in several companies in UK and here, large and small and it's very similar in all and hasn't changed much over the years.

What has changed is the number of snowflakes out there saying "poor poor people have to work" - rarely do these snowflakes actually know anything about it.

I think many bigger shops in London and around the UK also closed for Boxing Day, or St. Stephen's. The issue was revenue, or lack of it.

People might run short of fuel, it's as well that they're open as there's very few self service pumps and a deplorable lack of toilets anywhere, even on a normal day.

If you retrain and get a better job someone else still has to work Stephens day in your place.