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This year it falls on Sunday, December 24th. Does this mean there’s a proverbial “Silent Night” for retail workers?
Not everywhere: In the Glattzentrum in Wallisellen ZH, one of Switzerland’s largest shopping malls, stores will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on December 24.
Additionally, the shops at the gas station and train station are open as usual. Likewise shopping centers with special arrangements, for example Fashion Outlet in Landquart GR.
“There are certainly people who have nothing better to do on Christmas Eve than go shopping,” says Unia spokeswoman Nicole Niedermüller. According to the trade unionist, salespeople are at a disadvantage: “The vast majority of shop workers I speak to disdain working on Sundays, especially on Christmas Eve.”
Smooth center moves outward
Much fewer shopping malls are open this year compared to 2017, when December 24th fell on a Sunday. At that time, 12 out of 70 shopping malls were open on Christmas Sunday. This time, relevant shopping malls across Switzerland and close to the border in Germany will remain closed, except for Glatt.
Niedermüller believes this is mainly related to the challenges faced by shopping malls. They are struggling with online retail, shopping tourism and falling consumer budgets. “The vast majority of stores cannot significantly increase their sales even though they are open on Sundays,” he thinks.
Glattzentrum is waiting for the best jobs
The smooth center contrasts. “December 24, 2017 was one of the busiest days of the year,” said spokeswoman Lisa Rennefahrt. Customers are needed for the opening. All shops in Glattzentrum are participating and open. And this year there is almost no competition on Christmas Eve Sunday in the Glattzentrum.
Rennefahrt emphasizes that the decision to open was taken 1.5 years ago in consultation with the tenants. This meant there was sufficient lead time for operational planning. Glattzentrum also accommodated employees: “December 24 is not a public holiday in Switzerland – but we consciously decided to limit the opening hours from 10 am to 4 pm,” says Rennefahrt.
Migros is one of the heavyweights of Glattzentrum and took an active role in the opening decision. At least in the Migros Cooperative in Zurich, no branches will be open on December 24, except for train stations and gas stations. Spokesperson Ailina Scherrer notes that regular Sunday allowances are paid and finding employees for Sunday sales is not a problem “even on December 24.”
The situation is similar at the Coop, which has a branch in Christ and a branch in Fust in Glattzentrum: “There are sufficient staff on such days, especially since not all our employees celebrate Christmas,” says spokeswoman Rebecca Veiga.
issue of proportionality
Unia spokesman Niedermüller does not deny that some sellers like to take advantage of Sunday bonuses. “But it is a matter of proportionality; for most retail workers the Advent season is stressful and with nurseries closed at weekends there is often little compatibility with private life.”
As nice as it is to have most malls and retailers “accommodate” on December 24th, many sellers need to “earn” it in advance.
Night shopping on December 23
On Saturday, December 23, many shopping malls will remain open significantly longer than usual. For example, Letzipark in Zurich or St. The Shopping Arena in St. Gallen is open until 22:00 in the evening. The Globus or Coop Kaiserhof shopping mall in Kaiseraugst AG in Zurich is open until 21.00 in the evening.
“Particularly in the canton of Zurich, there are already liberal opening hours that allow shopping 96 hours a week,” says Niedermüller. He doesn’t understand why special permission requires opening on Christmas Eve.
However, Unia is not planning any protest action. “We have struggled with weekend hours all year long,” he says. Sunday work bans will be introduced in the canton and there are several proposals to expand the still restrictive regulation on Sunday work.
Niedermeier calls on consumers to stop using “anti-employee arguments” in stores: “Christmas is no surprise, so it should be possible to shop before December 24.”
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
