Deregulation of trading hours

[fireheart17]

Again, another one of those 'I'll just put it out there and see the responses."

Basically, deregulation of trading hours would mean that stores could open whenever they want, including public holidays. AT the current moment in my state, the Opposition Leader is calling for it if she's elected. (I'll be voting for the first time next year...so far my vote is swaying towards the minor parties)

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/s...5-2682,00.html

This one tends to get my blood boiling for the following reasons:

-The larger chains, from what I've seen, tend to hire high school kids and university students, rather than people who are looking for retail as an active career. Many of them use the day off either to study (university students) or to catch up with friends (uni and high school)
-It is possible to shut the stores for ONE day a year?!

The comment I did like on this one though was one of the more recently posted:

If this argument is followed to its logical conclusion then public holidays should be scrapped. The only people that should work on public holidays are essential service employees; police, fire brigade etc, everyone else should be allowed the day off. If shops have to open then why not banks? Who are the public holiday for only Office, Miners and Manufacturing employees? Perhaps they should be called Office Workers, Manufacturing Workers and Mining Workers holidays instead? The large stores are all for extended trading because it plays to their competitive advantage, small stores either don't open or go out of business. As for penalty rates, most employees don't have much of a choice if they work or not, although in my experience they are not threatened with the sack as some commentators imply. This is an issue of Work Life Balance and maintaining a competitive environment. If the major retailers want to trade on public holidays they can do so, they just need to build smaller stores that comply with the regulations! But it is much easier to have the rules changed to suit themselves. Personally I hate any government regulation, but in this case the current system is adequate, striking a good balance between big and small business and the public interest, not to mention the interest of employees.

[Nyoibo]

I have no problem with it, so long as penalty rates still apply and it's on a voluntary basis, I wouldn't mind working public holidays to get double time.

[Boozy]

People want stores open on public holidays because they have the day off and want to shop! Hurray!

What's that? Retail and restaurant employees want a day off, too? Too bad! Second-class citizens such as yourselves are none of our concern.

[Flyndaran]

People want stores open on public holidays because they have the day off and want to shop! Hurray!

What's that? Retail and restaurant employees want a day off, too? Too bad! Second-class citizens such as yourselves are none of our concern.

Who is forcing them to work? Oh wait, it's like a job or something, isn't it?
I don't like forced no make money days for companies. I like choices and freedom.

[fireheart17]

Boozy, I'm assuming that's sarcasm there.

See the quote I posted in the OP, which kinda sums up most of my point. I haven't bothered to read all of the messages as I've noticed they can sometimes set off a panic attack.

[Boozy]

Yes, fireheart, it was sarcasm. I should have added a "" smiley.

I agree with the quote you gave. There's no point in having public holidays if some people are excluded. A Walmart clerk is not a doctor. People can go one day without buying toasters.

Who is forcing them to work? Oh wait, it's like a job or something, isn't it?
I don't like forced no make money days for companies. I like choices and freedom.

Without public holiday laws, most employees do not have a "choice" as to whether or not they work Christmas Day. They will work if their bosses schedule them, and there will be nothing they can do about it.

[AdminAssistant]

When I was working retail, I always had to work Easter, Christmas Eve, Black Friday, Memorial Day, 4th of July, etc - because I didn't have kids. Never mind that my Mom has this funny thing about me being home on Christmas Eve. (Luckily my store closed at 5, as in, 'locked the door in the face of shoppers and shooed everyone else out'. That manager was great.) I wish that everything would be closed on public holidays. That would be wonderful! These should be days to spends with friends and family anyways, not out celebrating the Almighty Dollar.

I'd get in a similar argument with a friend who refused to go to rehearsals or meetings on Sunday but would frequently go out to lunch and dinner, go shopping, etc. I called him out on his hypocrisy and he said, "Well, they choose to not go to church and work on Sundays." In a disdainful tone that indicated that anyone who wasn't in chuch on Sunday morning is an inferior being. We don't talk much anymore.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I once had this woman show up at the petrol station buying tea, coffee, biscuits etc for church. She took the opportunity to lecture me about how disgraceful it was to see someone working on a Sunday and how the petrol station should be closed on "the Lord's day". I so much wanted to tell her that if it wasn't for the likes of her who want to shop on Sunday, shops wouldn't flipping well BE open. -.-

[gremcint]

You know I'm in favour of a shop being open on Sunday, I lived in a Jewish neighbourhood and the shops were still open friday night and saturday.

[fireheart17]

You know I'm in favour of a shop being open on Sunday, I lived in a Jewish neighbourhood and the shops were still open friday night and saturday.

At the moment most stores are open Sundays (the smaller stores aren't so much, but the larger ones are), this argument seems to be stemming more around public holidays.

Unfortunately, the current climate in Adelaide seems to be that "whinging solves everything" and that if anyone else tries the whole "if you don't like it leave" argument, or anyone who disagrees with said climate, they're either told to leave themselves, or their arguments are ignored.

[Kalli]

I am a small business owner, and as a sole trader (that is to say I'm the only person working in my shop), I haven't made up my mind on this one.

On one side, I feel more and more compelled to open on public holidays as more and more businesses are open in the area because they need to compete with the big stores that do open. I don't like this, because I rarely get the chance for a day off and I don't even know what holidays are anymore . So basically it's a choice between having a rare day off, and risking losing customers (either by them going to a place that IS open and keeping their business there, or by them getting annoyed that I'm closed because they are beginning to expect places to be open on holidays).

HOWEVER...

On the other hand, sometimes I'm having a bad month or whatever and I really, really cannot afford that day off. It costs my business dearly to have a day off on a week where I really need as much trade as possible. I think it's terribly hypocritical to say I should be able to open if I want, but the supermarket isn't allowed, even though I'm the little guy and he's the big evil corporate monster or whatever; it's still hypocrisy. If I'm allowed to trade on public holidays, so should anyone be, regardless of their business size.


Guess I'm a little more liberal than I'd like to admit...

[fireheart17]

I think one of the suggestions I stuck up on the article in regards to that was something to the effect of this (just remember that my state runs on a junior pay scale so the older you are, the more you get paid):

"if they must open on public holidays, then the staff need to be above a certain age."

Probably a bit more stupid than normal, and probably more out of anger than anything, the comment was more or less directed at the larger stores, who tend to hire younger people due to cheaper labor. Keep it above a certain age (due to penalty rates) and then we'll see how long the idea lasts for .

(Note, my views still remain as for the comment in my OP)

[Lace Neil Singer]

If it was due to a change in the law that no shops were allowed to trade on Sundays or public holidays, how long would it last?

I work two Sundays a month, and I like the extra cash I get for it; I just do alternate weeks with a collegue cuz neither of us want to work every Sunday. Just that sometimes it gets annoying cuz people aren't the slightest bit grateful that the petrol station is open, they just whinge and moan about the fact that we close early. -.- Sometimes I think that it's the fact that shops have to be open every day that makes people so whiny and entitled; back when they were closed Wednesday afternoons and Sundays, and closing at around 6 every day, people had a better attitude.

[Boozy]

But this isn't really about being open on Sundays; it's about working on public holidays such as Christmas Day. Sundays should be considered just another day of the week in a secular society, and most students enjoy working Sundays since they don't have classes and can put in a full eight-hour shift.

But despite their religious origins, public holidays have turned into secular days for us to spend with our families. Most people look forward to celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays with their loved ones. Retail employees should not be denied this opportunity just because they happen to work at a store.

Someone should ask members of the South Australian parliament if they plan on working on Christmas Day. I suspect not.

[Lace Neil Singer]

*shrugs* The petrol station was open on Boxing Day til a couple of years ago, when just FOUR customers turned up all day. What with all the staff being paid double, the store didn't even break even as regards profits, so corporate stated that the store be closed Boxing Day. You should have heard the whining and crying from customers when they realised. -_____-

If they'd wanted to shop on that day, they'd have bloody turned up the year before, dammit. One woman even said, "You should be open Boxing Day in case I need to go and get some milk or something." So we should all sit there, twiddling our thumbs, just in case you run out of something? Which won't fucking happen, seeing as you bought up half the fucking store on Christmas Eve!