Introduction
Shop Trading Hours Submission
The purpose of this submission is relative to issues on to
the
Shop Trading Hours Repeal Act 1990,
Sale of Liquor 1989
and the Holidays Act 2003
Preamble:
.................................link direct to survey
here.....
The focus of this is the impact of trading restrictions on
retailers, on-licensed premises, consumers, employees, the general
public and other groups in society resulting from the
inconsistencies between the Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal Act 1990,
Sale of Liquor Act 1989 and the Holidays Act 2003, with a focus on
Easter Sunday.
The issues discussed relate to:
• restrictions on retail trading
• various exemptions
• the status of Easter Sunday under the Holidays Act 2003,
and
• the enforceability and penalty regime for shop trading.
Current Legislative Provisions.
| Legislation |
Good Friday |
Easter Saturday |
Easter Sunday |
Easter Monday |
| Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal Act 1990 |
Restricted trading day (though some exemptions) |
Not a restricted trading day |
Restricted trading day (though some exemptions) |
Not a restricted trading day |
| Sale of Liquor Act 1989 |
No liquor sold, supplied or delivered from midnight Thursday
(though some exemptions)* |
No restrictions |
No liquor sold, supplied or delivered from midnight Saturday
(though some exemptions)* |
No restrictions
|
| Holidays Act 2003 |
Public Holiday |
Not a Public Holiday |
Not a Public Holiday |
Public Holiday |
The key issue is whether Easter should remain as a holiday
weekend.
Within this context our survey outlines the three decision areas
below.
In order to balance the often competing interests of business
owners, employees and the wider community you are asked to consider
each of the three decision areas as part of the whole
package.
Our Submission will comprise of the survey results.
SHOP TRADING HOURS ACT REPEAL ACT 1990.
The Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal Act 1990 restricts most shops
from trading on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Christmas Day and
before 1pm on Anzac Day. This is not, however, an absolute
restriction on trade as the exemptions under the Act enable some
shops to open. Examples of shops which are considered to provide an
"essential service" are:
• dairies and service stations, and
• shops selling prepared or cooked food ready to be eaten
immediately.
The 1990 Act also retains exemptions for shops in centres covered
by area exemptions granted by the Shop Trading Hours Act 1977. eg
Queenstown Rotorua. Existing exemptions are based on criteria
applied under the 1977 Act which may no longer be relevant
today.
Penalties for trading: Recent decisions by the courts also
suggest issues with the effectiveness of the penalty regime. The
cost of enforcing compliance significantly outweighs the penalties
that are imposed (fine levels are statutorily set at an amount that
does not exceed $1,000), which raises questions about whether the
sanctions are sufficient to make the restrictions effective. Given
the number of convictions that result in discharge without a fine,
the courts are effectively sending the message that they do not
consider breaches of the shop trading restrictions to be a serious
matter.
SALE OF LIQUOR ACT 1989.
When the issue of liquor trading restrictions was last considered
in 1999, general Sunday trading restrictions were removed, with the
exception of Easter Sunday, but a new restriction was added to
restrict trading on Anzac Day (before 1pm).
The restricted trading days are Good Friday, Easter Sunday,
Christmas Day and before 1pm on Anzac Day. The general conditions
that apply for on-and off- licences are that no liquor is to be
sold, supplied or delivered by licencees on these days. These
restrictions primarily apply to hotels, taverns and retailers
(including supermarkets and bottle stores). However, a range of
exceptions from those conditions mean that a number of premises are
allowed to trade on those days, eg: lodgers or hotel guests,
restaurants, nightclubs, theatres chartered clubs and sports clubs,
wineries.
HOLIDAYS ACT 2003.
The purpose of the Holidays Act 2003 is to promote balance between
work and other aspects of employees' lives. The Holidays Act 2003
provides public holidays to recognise days of national, social/and
or religious significance, and employees required to work on public
holidays receive a compensatory minimum payment of time and a half
(and an alternative holiday if it is a day that they would normally
work).
Easter Sunday is not a public holiday under the
Holidays Act 2003 in contrast to Christmas, Good Friday and Anzac
Day, which are public holidays. As a result, employees in areas
where shops/premises operate under the exemptions do not receive
any additional compensation or entitlements for working Easter
Sunday unless this is provided for in their employment
agreements.
Although Easter Sunday is the actual day of religious significance,
the public holiday was transferred to the following Monday
(sometimes referred to 'mondayisation') to give greater opportunity
for employees to observe the holiday, as at the time the public
holiday entitlement was established (1936) most people did not work
on Sundays.
STOP PRESS:
Supreme Court holiday
bombshell:for
new court ruling see
here.
C.E.O Comment:
It is important to
realise that there is no guarantee that Parliament will deliver any
legislative changes to address these issues, but if we do not voice
our option nothing will ever change in our favour.
The current Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal Act was introduced in
1990, with the intention of removing all remaining trading
restrictions. The shift to total deregulation met with both public
and parliamentary opposition, and the few remaining restricted days
were included in the legislation after a "conscience vote." A
conscience vote means that members of parliament are not required
to adopt a party position when voting on a Bill. The same situation
applies to amendments to the Sale of Liquor Act 1989.
There have been nine attempts to change the shop trading laws since
the 1990 Act was passed. In all cases, except in 2001 when garden
centres had the ability to trade on Easter Sunday reinstated, none
of the changes was passed.
Please move to the survey and express you
views....:
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