A retail lobby group says Easter trading rules preventing stores from opening on Easter Sunday are outdated and in need of a revamp.
Under the Shop Trading Hours Act 1990, most stores have to shut their doors on Easter Sunday — along with Good Friday, Christmas Day, and half of Anzac Day — with the exception of some tourist resorts and in areas where local councils have sought an exemption.
Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said the inconsistency under the current rules created confusion and it was time the legislation changed.
“The rules are set from a more traditional, old-school perspective, but we want to see … retailers have the opportunity to open, should they wish to — it’s their choice if they decide to or not.
“At the moment it’s in the hands of local authorities, so every council around New Zealand can make a decision about when stores can open or not open.”
Young said allowing shops to open on Easter Sunday meant businesses could capitalise on an influx of holidaymakers, and said it would likely be a fairly natural decision whether to trade or not.
For example, she said, in Wairarapa stores in Masterton might not want to open on Easter Sunday, but a few kilometres down the road in “the weekend hive spot” Greytown, they might.
“People are out and about spending money, people are going away for Easter, often domestically, you’ve got a lot of tourists from other areas.”
She said a change to the trading rules was “about flexibility and meeting the needs of people in 2025”.
However, she said any law change should still protect an employee’s right to refuse to work on Easter Sunday, which was provided for under the current act.
But while the right to refuse work on Easter Sunday might be enshrined in law, the nation’s largest union believed this did little to ensure employees were given any “real choice”.
E tū’s national secretary, Rachel Mackintosh said that weakening Easter trading laws would shift the balance away from workers and towards employers “who want to stay open no matter the cost”.
“Retail workers already face pressure to work long hours, weekends, and public holidays.
“It’s good to draw a line sometimes.”
And while the day might provide businesses with an opportunity to capitalise on holidaymakers, conversely she said retail workers also relied on Easter weekend for time off to spend with whānau or simply rest.
“While the weekend has religious importance for many, culturally it also represents the vestiges of our caring about something other than commerce.
“That should be protected, not eroded.
“Not everything has to be for sale, every day of the year.”
The national retail secretary of First Union, Rudd Hughes agreed the current patchwork of local council exemptions only added to confusion and inconsistency.
So to simplify matters, he said Easter Sunday should instead be protected as a guaranteed day off.
“It would make sense to take this out of the councils’ hands and simply mandate time off nationally – with limited exceptions for essential services like emergency chemists and petrol stations.”
First Union represented the majority of New Zealand’s retail workforce, including members across major supermarket chains and big-box retailers like Kmart and The Warehouse.
rnz.co.nz
