The marathon of shopping Sundays is starting. Shops will be open

This Sunday, December 7, stores will be open. The next shopping Sundays this year fall on the following week, i.e. on December 14, and on December 21, the Sunday before Christmas.

Christmas Eve is a day off – shops will be closed

The Polish Council of Shopping Centers (PRCH) recalled in the information that Christmas Eve (December 24) will be a public holiday for the first time in history, which means last minute purchases will not be possible. Shops will be closed on that day.

The Polish Council of Shopping Centers recommends using the upcoming shopping Sundays as an alternative to Saturdays. He advises to avoid rush hours, which are usually in the afternoons in shopping centers on weekends. He also suggests that customers think about commuting to stores and points out that during rush hours in the largest shopping centers, public transport may be faster than a car. In addition, it is also worth checking the opening hours – many facilities extend their opening hours, allowing shopping late in the evening.

The Council encourages customers not to leave their purchases until the last minute and to take advantage of the availability of stores throughout the pre-Christmas and December weekends.

Exceptions to the ban and penalties for breaking the regulations

The act gradually introducing the Sunday trading ban entered into force on March 1, 2018. From 2020, the trading ban does not apply only on seven Sundays a year: the last Sundays of January, April, June and August, on the Sunday before Easter, and after the amendment also on the three subsequent Sundays before Christmas.

The act restricting trade on Sundays provides for a catalog of 32 exclusions. The ban does not include, among others: postal activity, if the revenues from this activity constitute at least 40 percent. revenues from the sale of a given facility. Moreover, it does not apply to confectioneries, ice cream parlors, liquid fuel stations, flower shops, newsagents or cafes.

The penalty for breaking the Sunday trading ban is PLN 1,000 to PLN 100,000. PLN fine, and in case of persistent violation of the regulations – penalty of restriction of liberty.

On February 1, an amendment entered into force establishing December 24 as a day off for all employees, including employees of commercial establishments, for whom – in accordance with the Act on Restriction of Trade on Sundays and Holidays – Christmas Eve was a working day until 2 p.m. The amendment also provides that in December, a retail employee will not be able to work more than two Sundays.

At the end of December last year President Andrzej Duda decided to refer the law on a free Christmas Eve to the Constitutional Tribunal for post-control. The president's reservations concern the introduction of a third, additional working Sunday in December for trade workers. (PAP)

pad/mmu/