Changes to Easter Sunday Trading
25 August 2015Currently most shops are prohibited from trading on Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and ANZAC Day (until 1.00 pm on 25 April). However some businesses such as dairies, service stations, take away bars, cafes, restaurants, pharmacies and souvenir shops are permitted to sell certain items on such days.
The current trading laws for Easter Sunday are a bit of a nonsense with some types of business allowed to trade on Easter Sunday; and trading permitted in some towns but not others based on historical reasons, such as Queenstown being able to trade on Easter Sunday but not Wanaka. From an employee perspective there have been issues because although shops are prevented from trading on Easter Sunday the employees of those businesses who usually work on Sundays have no legislative entitlement to a paid day off.
The Government is proposing to legislate so that employees who do not wish to work on Easter Sunday will not be obliged to.
Overall this seems like a vote for common sense. However, the changes are some way off in 2017.
For more details on shop trading hours see: http://employment.govt.nz/er/holidaysandleave/publicholidays/shop-opening-hours.asp