4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[kitchens]

My sibling and his partner (want to keep this neutral) work for a famous High Street Department Store who claim to be "Designing the Nation" - know the one

 

They have been told from those up high in their Ivory Towers that the plan is to open the store at 5.30am on Boxing Day and close it at 10pm. Yes.... thats right .... you read that correctly

 

Is it just me or do you too think that this is really totally unacceptable? They won't be able to enjoy Christmas Day at all as they will probably have to get up at 2.30am on Boxing Day to actually get to work on time to open up the store.

 

Talk about greed and squeezing the punters dry and getting all they can out of us at Christmas.

 

Not that it'll make much difference but I shan't be shopping there again.

[Space Chick]

Crazy

[Griffin]

That's madness. They need to get EVERYONE to agree not to go in to work at the ridiculous time then the powers that be will have to change their minds.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

That is totally unreasonable . Apart from the unsociable hours, how are people without cars supposed to get to work at that time? Buses won't run at that time of the morning .

 

I fail to understand the obsession with shopping at Christmas . Can people not be happy to be at home for a couple of days without feeling the need to spend, spend, spend . I really feel for shopworkers .

[kitchens]

Thats what I said. Gone are the days of unions to protect workers from this sort of treatment.

[Ziggy]

I agree that it's crazy...

It's like the bank call centre being opened 24hrs/day, 365 days a year... who on earth will NEED to call the bank at 2am on Christmas or New Year and so on, especially when most of the services are available online anyway...

I feel very sorry for people whose family life gets affected by such unreasonable work hours, and probably sit in the office all night with no calls coming through except for the occasional drunk or pervert...

We had to be at work once at the call centre I worked for on Boxing day, and we didn't get one single call all day. There were two of us there, and we asked the manager if one of us could go home at lunch time as there hadn't been a single call, and we were told no, you have to stay just in case someone calls, there has to be at least two people, in case two customers call at the same time.

 

It's high time managers/directors/anyone involved in decisions put personal and family life back on the priority list and encourage an healthier, happier society instead of creating ever increasing greed and expectations.

 

I once wondered whether to call the bank call centre at midnight on 31st december just to wish them a happy new year and say sorry they had to work , then thought they might take it as tease instead of sympathy, and my call might justify the centre staying opened on future new years and christmas.

[kitchens]

What I don't understand is that in the Medeterranean countries i.e. Spain, France, Italy etc they shut up shop every day for at least 2 hours at lunchtime and it doesn't seem to affect their trade or the money they take. I can't imagine going anywhere in France on a Bank Holiday and anything being open. City Europe (in Calais) is never open on Sundays apart from the lead up till Christmas and even then it has limited opening hours. It seems in this country that companies are almost afraid of closing incase someone else takes their business.

[chelsea]

I think it's dreadful . For a start I cannot understand where people get their money from to go shopping on Boxing day! And - who wants to?!!

 

We should revert back to how we were when I was growing up, shops closing on holidays and it really wouldn't bother me if they shut on Sundays either. I do all my shopping online - the last time I went to town shopping was over 12 months ago and then I was in and out within the hour.....can't stand it.

 

The airline I work for allows us one day off at Christmas - (Christmas day) yay!!! And even then I have to take it as a day's holiday.

[Rhapsody]

Are they members of a union?

[Griffin]

Are they members of a union?

Good question. Even if they're not they can still ask one for advice on their rights. Whatever job you're in, everyone should join their union if they can, you never know when you might need them. I'm taking my employers to an industrial tribunal at the moment and my union have been worth their weight in gold and all for the princely sum of £3 a month. I couldn't have done it without them.

[Seagazer]

When I had a Christmas temporary job at Woolworths the management put a board up to get volunteers to put their names down to work Boxing Day. The supervisors told us secretly not to, in any circumstances, put our names down on the board. They didn't get any volunteers.

 

I must admit a bit of me is nostalgic for the old days with sunday closing etc. I for one don't go anywhere near the shops on Boxing Day or New Years Day.

[Guest]

 

I fail to understand the obsession with shopping at Christmas . Can people not be happy to be at home for a couple of days without feeling the need to spend, spend, spend . I really feel for shopworkers .

 

For some of us Christmas is not a happy family time - if we stay home its like another regular Sunday only with everything closed. We have dinner together then Mum will go sit in her living room (as she REFUSES to watch the Festive Eastenders!) and I'll sit in mine. Then James will go to bed, Mum will go to be and I'll be sat here with my laptop again.

 

If the shops etc weren't open on Boxing day suicide rates would rise! Some of us need to just get back on with life rather than sit around the house doing nothing. Last Christmas we were in Florida where everything was open Christmas day and there is no such thing as boxing day

[Snowy]

But surely Pengy even you wouldn't be there at 5.30am, would you?

It's not so much the opening, but the ridiculous hours people are expected to work. I went into work for 5am this morning to catch up with some of the night staff. Didn't sound so bad until I realised I would have to get out of bed at 3am to get there on time! It's finished me off for the rest of the day - I really feel sorry for anyone who has to do those sort of hours regularly.

[Tiggy]

I wonder if the boss who decided to open at those rediculous hours would like to go and open & close the store - bet he/she is off on holiday for a week or two - I've no problem with shops being open on boxing day but reasonable hours please

 

Having worked in the NHS for 30 years I know what its like working nights weekends public holidays - it sucks but we had to do it - but I don't think anyone is in dire need for anything on Boxing day after all the food & drink they had the day before! Greedy companies

[ubereglu]

That's ridiculous. Is anybody going to actually go there that early in the morning after drinking and eating too much the day before?!

 

Just as long as they're not working the whole day I suppose they'd get away with it.

[chickenanne]

That does seem ridiculous. I guess as a business they need to make money to get the shareprice nice and high.... so am not sure I would really blame the managers/directors so much: if people didn't shop on boxing day then the shops wouldn't open.

[Redwing]

I guess they want to get their sale underway before other shops

 

It doesnt sound they they have been told yet that they MUST work that day, many business ask for volunteers first, the pay is usually good so people do come forward first allowing those who choose not to work to have the day off so whilst its pretty stupid to open Boxing Day they still might not have to work

 

Unfortunately I bet the contract that they signed does not guarantee them Christmas off so they have few rights regardless of what we all think

 

Hubby works for the NHS and chooses to work Christmas day so those with children can take a day off and my brother always volunteers to work in his call centre as the extra pay allows him to take the following three days off so like I said there will always be volunteers - it just depends on whether the shop choose to try that approach first rather than upsetting people by making them work it

 

Sadly at the moment its an employers market and they call the shots, many people have few other options, soon the tide will turn and things will get easier for employees who will then vote with their feet

[chickenlass]

I'm afraid I am really out of touch but if I knew who the retailer was I would be giving them a wide birth ...FROM NOW ON TOO!!.

I am always glad when the shops close at Christmas so I'm not able to spend any more!!!...To expect staff to start work at that time Boxing day unless VERY well rewarded is totally unexceptable .

 

Just smacks of pure greed to me

[Guest]

But surely Pengy even you wouldn't be there at 5.30am, would you?

It's not so much the opening, but the ridiculous hours people are expected to work. I went into work for 5am this morning to catch up with some of the night staff. Didn't sound so bad until I realised I would have to get out of bed at 3am to get there on time! It's finished me off for the rest of the day - I really feel sorry for anyone who has to do those sort of hours regularly.

 

 

well there was one year that I was at Next at 5am and M&S at 6.

 

I love a good sale me!

[Happy chickens!]

Gets on soapbox..... I hate all the extended opening hours, it really eats away at family life for so many. School time is not negotiable, you can't arrange for kids to do the Weds sunday shift. I'm not religious, but I think it a shame that so much opens on a sunday.

 

With so much automation and the internet, there shouldn't be much need for 'real' people to work such anti social hours. Grrr!

[keyhole kate]

Are they members of a union?

Good question. Even if they're not they can still ask one for advice on their rights. Whatever job you're in, everyone should join their union if they can, you never know when you might need them. I'm taking my employers to an industrial tribunal at the moment and my union have been worth their weight in gold and all for the princely sum of £3 a month. I couldn't have done it without them.

 

 

Sorry to Hijack

 

I was a unison union member their solicitors Thompsons wouldn't represent me as they didn’t think the case would succeed Having no other choice I took it on myself learned enough ET & Dis Disc Law to take on my Employers solicitors and Counsel at a week long ET hearing which cost them 65K

I won 5 counts of Dis disc one of which was Direct Disc by the HR Manager

 

Unions Pah !!! They have no teeth anymore

 

Gets of soapbox sorry

[Guest]

Gets on soapbox..... I hate all the extended opening hours, it really eats away at family life for so many. School time is not negotiable, you can't arrange for kids to do the Weds sunday shift. I'm not religious, but I think it a shame that so much opens on a sunday.

 

With so much automation and the internet, there shouldn't be much need for 'real' people to work such anti social hours. Grrr!

 

Now this is where we differ- extended opening hours give so many opportunities to so many people - they allow more people opportunities to get into the working world - students and other part timers need these flexible extended hours to fit around their studies - extending the hours at certain times of year allows for greater employment for seasonal staff - look at our very own Ubereglu trying to find work right now!

 

The sooner we get rid of our archaic system of "sunday" hours the better. We are a multicultural society - our shops should be open 24/7 365. In America things close on Thanksgiving - here we close at the drop of a hat! Where on earth here could I have gone for a fun day out followed by a pizza on Christmas day?? I can't even walk round the local nature reserve!!!! Not only did I spend Christmas day having a fun day out - so many people do so that Disney has to SHUT as it's FULL!

[Christian]

I just think it is unfair that people are forced to work Christmas day. All very well for those that like to shop at Christmas - I know that not all families are happy - but what about the poor sales assistants, cabin crew police officers, nurses, doctors etc?? Surely they should be allowed a couple of days off a year?

 

It is a British bank holiday after all!

 

I cannot wait until my December roster is out (2oth November ) to see what delightful destination I could potentially be going to on Christmas day. The airline I work for has no Domestic flights on the 25th, but most other destinations are a normal schedule

[sadietoo]

Can I just put a word in for the poor supply staff who have no say over whether or not they work at Christmas...If people want their supermarkets full of fresh stuff on Boxing Day, (or the day after) some poor soul has given up his Christmas to drive the lorry load of stuff to them and other poor people have given up their Christmas to put it in the pretty plastic bags that the supermarkets specify, and that we all detest and throw away at the first possible opportunity. Imo being a multicultural society is just a smokescreen that supermarkets and others hide behind. It suits them to be open as many days as possible, and the more days that shops are open the more ordinary life is eroded.

 

I have not had a Christmas when my OH, who is a transport manager has either not had to go into work or take a million phone calls with problems..all caused with trying to get loads of chilled food to supermarket distribution depots at a holiday time. It drives me mad, and he does not have a choice. If you fail a supermarket they just go elsewhere for their services and you are out of a job.

 

I agree with whoever said we should be like France. We should close our shops etc on Sundays and we certainly shouldn't open on holiday weekends...and then maybe we could get a sense of worth back that doesn't depend on buying things all the time

 

stomps off soap box

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Well said, Sadie .