Debate continues on shop opening hours

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The regulation of shop opening hours has long been one of the most complex and contentious issues on the industrial relations agenda in the Greek commerce sector. The matter was brought to the fore again in late 2003 with the adoption of new legislation on local prefects's ability to set rules on opening hours, and by the introduction of special provisions to accompany the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Shop opening hours have over the years proved to be one of the most thorny bargaining issues in the Greek commerce sector. Disputes over the reorganisation of shop opening times are extremely complex, sometimes going beyond 'classic' disputes between workers and management. Discussions over opening hours involve disagreements not only between the workers’ and employers’ sides, but also between self-employed shopkeepers and small businesses on one side and and large national or multinational companies on the other. The debate involves trade union and employers' bodies representing various groups with various views, and the issue is by its nature political and has serious economic and social ramifications.

Views on opening hours

The deregulation or extension of shop opening hours may, according to critics, cause employees to work longer hours, force them to provide labour at times and on days that are 'antisocial', disturb overall family and social equilibrium, and undermine the quality of their employment. By contrast, for companies the possibility of deregulating or extending opening hours permits them more rapidly to recoup the costs of acquiring and using capital equipment, or to improve service to some or all consumers. In parallel, some argue that deregulation or extension allows the commerce sector to grow with a resultant increase in employment. However, trade unions and some employers' bodies in commerce reply to this argument that only large companies can benefit from continuous or longer opening hours, because they have significant economies of scale which quickly bring about production cost savings. Opponents argue that a resulting market monopoly can help to shift increased operating costs onto the prices of products, in other words onto the consumers themselves. In addition, a decline in small businesses brings about significant job losses, it is argued. These conditions may contribute to a reduction in the overall volume of consumption.

Shop opening hours are thus not a simple technical nature issue relating to business operability and consumer service. Rather their regulation is seen as a way of restraining market forces so as to avoid distortions of competition and relaxations of protective labour legislation. It appears that the opinions of the social partners on the issue cannot be separated from the position in which they experience it - ie as an employee, self-employed person, small entrepreneur or investor/owner of a large chain of stores.

Changing regulatory framework

Around the beginning of the 1970s, attempts were made to separate working hours from shop opening hours, as a first step in deregulating hours. These efforts failed, but the issue continued to be a point of friction in the Greek commerce sector. At the beginning of the 1990s, which marked the beginning of a period when the legislative framework for employment relations became more flexible and a large number of multinational retail chains entered the domestic market, the government issued Presidential Decree 327/1992 on 'regulation of issues of oil policy, petroleum products trading and operation of shops'. This Decree took forward deregulation of shop opening hours, with the aim of abolishing legislative and regulatory provisions that restricted free competition.

Following this move, serious disagreements arose within the country’s commerce associations and in some cases disputes broke out, a number of which ended in violent clashes. Although the situation appeared temporarily to be out of control, it was calmed when almost all the social partners in the commerce sector signed an agreement on 13 February 1997 (GR9705114N). This agreement then became the basis for Joint Ministerial Decision (KYA) 1162 of 6 March 1997 on the 'establishment of a framework for shops and food stores'. An indication of the tension associated with the issue during this period is given by paragraphs 6 and 7 of the commentary accompanying the KYA, which stated that the Decision was arrived at bearing in mind, among other matters: 'the constant breach by certain members of the commerce associations of the agreements concluded among them as regards their shops’ opening times, particularly on Saturdays … the need to alleviate the tensions that have arisen, restore labour peace in those areas and avoid unfair competition'.

The Decision provided that:

• shops and food stores are free to set their morning opening times;

• on weekdays, shops must close at 20.00 during the winter and 21.00 during the summer;

• on Saturdays, summer and winter closing time is 18.00;

• local or sectoral agreements may be concluded on shorter opening hours than those described above; and

• Sunday remains a non-working day except in the case of shops catering exclusively to tourists.

Current situation

Despite this apparent consensus and the clear spirit of conciliation between the various trade union, occupational and employers' bodies, the dispute over hours continued to simmer in commerce. Thus in 1999 a new round of confrontations began, centred around abandoning the provisions of the 1997 KYA and gradually deregulating opening hours. This continuing dispute is centred on the following pivotal issues:

• extending opening hours on Saturdays and allowing an extra evening of late opening between Monday and Friday;

• the ability to change opening hours at the local level following relevant decisions;

• relaxing conditions for opening on Sundays and public holidays; and

• releasing businesses located in organised retail parks from the statutory limitations on opening hours.

On the first point, a 2001 study by the Association of Retail Sales Businesses (SELPE) found that conditions are less strict regarding the standard setting of opening hours in other EU countries.

With regard to the second issue, it is worth noting that Article 23 of Law 2224/1994 provides that, by decision of prefectural councils, following the opinion of the employers’ and workers’ organisations concerned - who are called on to express their written opinion within a strict time limit of 20 days, after which the relevant decisions may be issued - shop opening hours may be regulated by geographical area. This regulation has produced confrontation, because various institutional and occupational bodies, such as SELPE and the Association of Supermarket Businesses (SESME), as well as the Federation of Greek Private Employees (OIYE), feel that the prefectural councils should no longer have jurisdiction to set shop opening hours on a local basis. According to these views, the ability of the prefects to create special rules on commerce opening hours is essentially in breach of the provisions agreed in 1997 and provides leeway for unfair competition to emerge. In practice, in most cases prefects set opening hours that are shorter than the maximum permitted - according to critics, this is the result of political pressures brought to bear by certain sections of commerce.

Nevertheless, in other cases (eg prefects in Eastern Attica, Corfu, Rhodes and Hania) the relevant decisions have extended opening hours beyond the framework set in the 1997 agreement, and allowed businesses to open on Sundays. These decisions resulted both from the prefects’ discretion to readjust shop opening times, but also from a lack of clarity in the legislative framework regarding the designation of areas as 'tourist areas'. According to Article 46 of Law 2224/1994, prefects may, notwithstanding other legislation, allow shops to open on Sundays and public holidays, provided that they are located within strictly demarcated tourist areas and provided that the employers’ organisations, the trade unions and the Ministry of Tourism agree.

The ability to designate an area as a tourist area for retail purposes stems from the existence of older statutes (eg Presidential Decree 899/76-a329 regarding Markopoulo in Attica) or special permission to open granted by the National Tourist Organisation (EOT). If the written opinion of the parties concerned is not received within 10 days, the prefect may unilaterally issue a relevant decision. If there is disagreement between employers and employees, the right of unilateral decision passes to the regional authority. However, in reality the special conditions binding on EOT to issue such permissions have been lifted, resulting in the gradual ending of Sunday as a shop-closing day in broad areas of the country.

Like entertainment parks, retail parks are a recent development in Greece. Such initiatives entail major investments, mainly by commercial enterprises of large capacity and scope. Therefore, such enterprises seek to achieve a more rapid return on their investment costs and an optimum operating level, and opening hours are a key point in meeting these objectives. Thus current provisions are seen as a basic obstacle to the development of such business schemes. An example the case of the Village Entertainment Park in Rentis, where the inability to introduce flexible opening times, following the repeal of a decision by the prefect of Piraeus in April 2000 to extend working hours until 23.00 hours, caused the dismissal of 150 employees.

In addition, the issue has flared up again with an attempt to deregulate opening hours in view of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and a change in the competency of prefects to set limits on shop opening times introduced by Article 21 of Law 3144/2003 on 'social dialogue for the promotion of employment - social protection and other provisions' (GR0304102F). As regards opening hours for the Olympic Games, following an initiative by the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EVEA), the employers' bodies jointly proposed that KYA 1162/1997 be suspended and each body be granted the ability to set opening hours for its members. As a result, the KYA will be suspended, though only for the period from 15 July to 15 September 2004. However, other bodies have expressed the view that this venture may be used a something of a 'Trojan horse' to breach existing provisions.

The new provisions of Law 3144/2003 leave certain important issues open, such as:

• which body is competent to set limits on shop opening times, now that the prefects are no longer competent to do so?

• what force will the previous prefectural decisions have? and

• will shop opening hours now be set on a nationwide basis?

Finally, on 17 December 2003, the Minister of Culture, without engaging in social dialogue procedures with the relevant actors, introduced a specific clause into Law 2947/2001 on 'issues of Olympic Games infrastructure and hospitality'. According to this new provision, the opening and closing times of complementary athletic facilities, such as sport goods and food stores and restaurants, are to be determined without any restriction and in line with the operation of Olympic stadiums and facilities.

Commentary

By and large, there is a significant lack of clarity and confusion regarding the issue of shop opening hours. This confusion is caused both by successive laws and by the difficulties in finding a final solution to the issue, which are augmented by extensive violations of labour legislation (GR0309105F). In this context, the discussion on shop and food store opening hours is expected to continue to be a particularly open question for bargaining, causing strife between the social partners. (Lefteris Kretsos, INE/GSEE-ADEDY).