A few responses:
Tesco's will tell you whatever it takes to get people through their doors.
If people don't celebrate Christmas, then it's a normal day for them. Will they refuse the double/triple time as it is obviously no matter to them that it's a holiday for others?
Remember when sunday trading came in? No-one would be forced to work sundays? B******S. If you refuse to work, you don't get the job. Many are in retail because they can't get anything else. I worked in retail for 6 years, and NO-ONE wanted to work bank holidays, sundays, or Christmas or New Year.
No buses here at all. So much for public transport.
Closing and giving retail workers a decent break would only inconvenience a few. Opening when having to pay workers more puts up the cost of every sale made that day=cost push inflation.
I don't really object to anyone working if they want to. But only if there is a cast iron guarantee that anyone who doesn't wish to, doesn't have to.
If certain people don't celebrate Christmas, what right have they to take it as a holiday. And why do taxis cost more during the festival? They don't put the prices up during ramadan, diwali etc, so isn't this illegal on religious grounds?
why would anyone refuse overtime payments at any time for time they are happy to work? it's not like they would usually have the option to be paid a lower rate as tesco or other big companies as the rates would already be set. i'm not quite sure what your point is there. if people are happy to work days that other people don't want to do and they can benefit financially or otherwise from doing so, whats the problem? it's a different case if people are being forced to work days or hours they don't want to do, but then again if you work in certain fields then thats whats expected of you
i'm in scotland, so i don't think the sunday trading laws affected us the same as in england as i don't recall we ever had any restrictions on the days we could open. when i was a kid i remember going to the local shops for rolls and papers and they were still open. when i worked in retail many years ago i would work 7 days a week whenever i could, most people wanted to work the sunday for 2 reasons, one so they got paid more, and secondly as the hours were less than a normal day. we were paid a fixed wage for working 5 days, but on a sunday we just worked 5 or 6 hours instead of 8 and were paid the same. that might not be the case with most companies now, and you would just be paid an hourly wage, but even then, sundays can be one of the most boring days of the week, and i'd prefer a friday or other day off work instead, and collegease in the past shared a similar view. it was the same with bank holidays, we always worked them, but those were some of the better days to work. we got christmas day and new years day off and that was it, nothing else was guaranteed, and people didn't have a problem with it. what's so special about boxing day in particular? no-one is complaining in particular about not getting xmas day off, those who do have to work it usually have particular jobs that require 24/7/365 coverage, like nurses, firemen, etc, so most people would get xmas day off, so why would they need another day off after then? it's not a religeous day, not that most people care about that any more. there are plenty of people who are willing to work and want to work, so why should people prevent them from doing so?
opening on a day a store would normally be closed and paying staff overtime rates doesn't necesarily mean inflation either, otherwise the stores wouldn't open if they weren't going to be profitable. it's similar to businesses running night shifts at busy times and paying double time. your rent/rates and most other costs apart from electricity and heating will remain the same whether the business is open or closed, so your additional cost of paying time and a half or more likely double time balances out
what right do people have to take christmas as a holiday if they don't celebrate it? everyone has the same rights regardless of religeon, sex, race or age. in most cases people are forced to have to take the day off as the business closes, they have to take that day off as a holiday whether they like it or not. i'm not quite sure what your point is here. it's not a religous holiday. there are no religeous holidays in the uk where anyone is forced to have to take a holiday or work
taxi's can charge what they like as long as they are regulated and follow rules. they charge more in the evenings than daytime. i'm not sure how rates differ on xmas day or NY day, but again, most taxi drivers have the option of working or not, and by giving them the incentive to benefit from days that other people don't want to work it helps out people who rely on that form of transport to get about. not everyone uses a taxi to get home after a night on the beer, some old people need them to get around, to visit relatives on xmas day, visit hospitals etc. some disabled or blind people rely on them also. if they want to work, let them. if you don't want to pay an extra couple of quid on xmas day or NY day, don't get a taxi
it's all about letting people have the option of working if they want, or not if they don't want to, and that in turn gives others the option of using the services or not, so people can buy groceries and other necessities, or get around on public transport or taxis
it's another story companies who sell consumer goods like tv's, sofa's, carpets, etc, rather than food, drink and other necessities. people don't really need to rush out and spend that xmas money burning a hole in the pocket on a new telly, but for the economic reasons i mentioned above, as companies are already paying most of the costs for the property whether it's open or closed, they will open the business if there is going to be customer demand which is sufficiently profitable for them. if consumers didn't want to go out shopping on boxing day, the stores wouldn't open. it's just simple demand and supply. i personally don't want to go out on the first or second day of the sales and get caught up in the hustle and bustle, but obviously plenty people do, and some get a kick out of doing so. i'll pop over to tesco's later as i don't have any real food in the house, as i live alone and buy enough to last a day or two at a time, and haven't needed to cook at home since thursday or friday, bar toast and eggs for breakfast, with tesco's being open, and most items i buy perishable within a few days, i haven't needed to stock up on food to last me until today. if i didn't have the option of tesco's being open, then i could either get something and freeze it, or there's plenty chinese, indian and whatever else takeaways open, and local muslim run stores, all who were open today, christmas day and every other day. why should anyone want to force those people to close thier businesses when they want to open and benefit from demand and lesser competition? what good is it going to do anyone by forcing them to close?