Unions push for improved working conditions in light of extended shop opening hours

According to a draft amendment to the Shop Opening Hours Act presented by the Ministry of Economics and Labour, from summer 2007 retailers will be entitled to open their shops for 72 hours per week instead of the current 66 hours. While the response from businesses has been divided, the unions have announced their intention to oppose these plans unless there is an improvement in the legal framework conditions of employees in the retail sector.

In its joint programme of January 2007 for the legislative period 2007-2010, the coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, SPÖ) and the conservative Austrian People’s Party (Österreichische Volkspartei, ÖVP) agreed on a further extension of retail shop opening hours. On 30 January 2007, the Minister of Economics and Labour, Martin Bartenstein, unveiled a draft legislative amendment to the Shop Opening Hours Act (Öffnungszeitengesetz). This draft has been submitted to the social partners for them to provide expert advice by the end of March 2007.

Draft amendment

The draft amendment entitles retailers to open their shops for 72 hours per week within a standard framework period - between 06.00 and 21.00 on weekdays and between 06.00 and 18.00 on Saturdays. At present, retail businesses are permitted to open their shops for a maximum of 66 hours per week (AT0307201N). It is intended to maintain the general ban on Sunday and holiday opening. Both parties of the coalition government have supported this draft legislation, which parliament should endorse in spring 2007, and which would then come into effect in summer 2007.

Mixed response from business

Surprisingly, the cabinet’s draft bill has received a mixed response from business. While the commerce section of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber of the Economy (Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, WKO) has praised the liberalisation plans as a fair compromise which takes into account the interests of both large retailers and smaller companies, the regional branch of the WKO’s commerce section in Lower Austria has rejected the initiative. Their argument is that an extension of shop opening hours would threaten the livelihood of many small and medium-sized enterprises. Most of these would be unable to benefit from the extended opening hours because of the additional costs incurred by overtime premium payments to employees, (AT0212201N).

By contrast, the Association of Austrian Large Retailers and Chain Stores (Handelsverband, HV) has called for a bigger extension to opening hours. HV is a lobbying organisation representing about 150 member companies, in particular large clothing and food retailers. The association argues that retailers should be permitted to open their shops from Monday to Saturday for a maximum of 96 hours per week, within a standard framework period from 06.00 to 22.00 on each day except for Sunday. Such an extension of opening hours would significantly enhance companies’ turnover and thus create additional jobs in retail, HV maintained. This position has been opposed by WKO, however, as they believe that such large-scale liberalisation would simply produce a shift in turnover from smaller to larger companies rather than an increase in the total volume of retail turnover (AT0101239N).

Union position

The Austrian trade unions have made their acceptance of the government’s proposal conditional on general improvements in retail employee working conditions. They argue that a mere liberalisation of shop opening hours would directly lead to a need for increased working time flexibility and - as a consequence - to a further deterioration in working conditions in the sector (AT0107221N). The Austrian Trade Union Federation (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB) and its largest affiliate, the Union of Salaried Employees, Graphical Workers and Journalists (Gewerkschaft der Privatangestellten, Druck, Journalismus, Papier, GPA-DJP), are therefore demanding the introduction of a legal entitlement to overtime premium pay for part-time workers. In addition, the unions have urged employers to enter negotiations with the aim of reaching a collective agreement on improving the framework conditions for female retail employees, who constitute the majority of the workforce in the sector. Moreover, the unions argue that before embarking on any further liberalisation, a series of infrastructural measures are essential, such as better public transport services and improved childcare provision. Last but not least, there must be a substantial improvement in law enforcement, especially regarding the sanctions for employers who systematically fail to register correctly their employees’ working hours and to pay appropriate wages.

Commentary

A 2004 study on employment in retail by the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (Österreichisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, WIFO) found that working conditions have been deteriorating in the sector in recent years. The most commen problems identified are: job insecurity, short average term of employment, very high - and still increasing - levels of flexible part-time and ‘minor’ work, wage dumping and the ‘feminisation’ of the sector (AT0405202F). Therefore, the unions want to establish improved and legally binding minimum standards in employment, prior to the sector’s further liberalisation, since the latter is likely to increase the pressure on employees to accept even more flexible working hours.

Georg Adam, Institute of Industrial Sociology, University of Vienna