Employees disagree with open Sundays and longer opening hours

Currently, there is a lot of discussion surrounding the government's new draft bill, which allows shops to open from 5.00am to 10.00pm during weekdays and Sundays, and from 5.00am to 7.00pm on holidays. In October, a first amendment envisioned that Sunday work hours should be moved up from four to eight hours, backed up by the argument that it would suit people's habits. presumably it would also give employees more flexibility, as well as counteract the competition of online sales.

The trade unions disagree with the draft bill though, an opinion they based on a 2018 study conducted by LISER, the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research. Until now, this study has gone largely unnoticed, but it does point to important statistics.

To receive a complete survey, employees and business owners were asked to share their opinion on opening hours past 6pm and open Sundays. 681 businesses participated, which equals to 3,751 employees from areas such as wholesale shops, bakeries, hairdressers, beauty salons, shoemakers, and repair services. It resulted in a participation rate of 30% for businesses, and 16% for employees.

What were the results in 2018? 

The results were similar to what the trade unions also say: employees are neither extremely happy about Sunday working hours, nor about working past 6pm. Only about 1.5% of the employees working on Sundays agreed with a complete deregulation of opening hours to possibly being open 24/7.

87% state that the law should limit open Sundays and 90% even say that opening hours for the evenings should be submitted to a limit too. These are results which counter the current deliberations on making opening hours more flexible, supposedly practical for employees.

Who works Sundays and why? 

Most of the time, women aged 30 to 50 and border workers with average wages work on Sundays. Even the wage mark-up is no longer a big attraction to work on Sundays. About 58% saw the additional payment as a reason to work during the weekend.

Approximately 45% of employees feared they might lose their jobs if they were to not be available to work on Sundays. They also feared that colleagues might look at them negatively.

Sunday- and evening shifts are stressful

The survey senses a link between stress, unhappiness, and Sunday or evening shifts. Employees who worked on Sundays were 12% more prone to experience stress at work, and they were more unhappy overall. 

The employers' perspectives

The statements are diverse: many shops do not open on Sundays for additional revenue, but rather because they want to keep up with the online competition.

Even though it has a positive impact on revenues, which 51% business owners confirm, most shops only make about 10% of their revenue on Sunday. Furthermore, employers concluded in 2018 that they had trouble finding and keeping staff for Sunday shifts.

It is a similar case for opening hours past 6pm. Most stores were satisfied with the laws in 2018. If a change were to take place, 38% of them would adjust their opening hours to those of competing businesses.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the survey has exposed that, in 2018, neither employees nor business owners felt a great need to amend the regulations on opening hours. Nevertheless, the study is now dated six years back, and the rate of participants was relatively low. It is worth questioning how representative the survey truly is.

Although the survey was done six years ago, it is the most recent study on that topic, even though the draft bill is well on its way. What is missing from the 2018 results are the data concerning earlier opening hours and the consumer's viewpoint,