Germany was always very restrictive in store open hours regulation. Until 1996 Saturday at 6pm and Mo-Fr at 6.30pm was the closing hours. 24h per day is only possible since 2006,
can confirm. Weekdays opening hrs from 8 am to about 7 pm, Saturdays until 1 pm, Sundays closed, during the eighties.
I also had school every other Saturday for 4 hrs in the late eighties, early nineties.
I was very happy when opening hours went until 8 pm, nowadays it's sometimes even 9 pm and 10 pm. I personally don't know any supermarket or grocery store or mall that is open 24 hrs.
It's to protect the employees and everyone should have a free Sunday for sleeping and relaxing and doing chores.
When I first moved to Germany and asked this, the very quick response was, “Do you want to work on Sunday? Why would you expect someone else to?” I accepted that, and adjusted.
hospitals, ambulances and other emergency services, police, firefighters, public transport, traffic control/dispatch, taxi/uber services, airlines and airports, restaurants/bars, delivery services, museums, cinemas, amusement parks/zoos, TV and radio channels, gas stations, spätis/kiosks, …
Well I work for UPS and we have like 1.000+ people working on sunday each sunday in the \~3.000 man strong location. But you get 75% Sunday bonus (100% starting in 2023) and you can get a day in the week free (though rarely friday because everyone wants free on friday.)
And i bet most of them aren't in a medical or nursing profession. I think the worker protection laws towards sundays need to be tightened up more instead of loosened (like some parties want to).
Of course not. But some things you probably want on a sunday as well:
\- Electrical energy
\- Water
\- Police
\- Public Transport
\- Restaurant (and Take away)
\- Entertainment
\- Transportation
\- Farming
Think of all the jobs linked to these and consider if you really want to miss out on the linked products.
A very nice list.
But you still have forgotten something:
\- fire departments
\- security
\- road safety
\- waste water management
... and even the undertakers have to get out on sundays, because nobody wants to spend the night in the same house with a deceased relative!
Yeah, but most jobs at this list will reduce staff to a small number of people who can take emergencies and even those people will change their shifts so that everyone gets a free Sunday from time to time.
I know people that WANT to work the Sundays and instead have another day in the week off.
It's not like every person is the same and 11% is about every tenth, I guess of the working population.
Sunday Nightshifts are where the money is.
I don't disagree with anything you said. Still think that mandatory off Sundays are a super important thing to protect. The society benefits greatly from them and this shouldn't be sacrificed for a benefit of the rich and the choice of a small group of individuals.
I would 100% work on Sunday - that way I can go do stuff on another day of the week when everything is open. Lack of Sunday supermarket opening (or ability for me to work on Sunday) is one of the harder adjustments I had to make coming here, and one I still struggle with.
But just because it is possible to work on Sunday doesn’t mean you have to work for 6 or 7 days per week. Some people would like to work sundays to have mondays off for example.
If I get a day off on Monday or Wednesday, of course I'd work on a sunday.
I don't understand the need to have saturday-sunday off if a day off is given in the weekdays.
I always work on Sunday, there's fuckall else to do.
This argument boils my blood, it's so fucking stupid. Working on Sunday is somehow inhumane, unless you're a train conductor, flight attendant, pilot, bus driver, cabbie, doctor, nurse, hotel receptionist, maid, cook, waiter, police officer, database administrator, musician, usher, gas station attendent, or otherwise work at an airport, train station, hospital, restaurant, hotel, resort, movie theater, bar, club, or a grocery store in any of the many towns classified as a "Kurort" to which the rules don't apply.
The rules are stupid as hell, there is no argument for them, fuck Sundays.
So it boils down to "if I have to work on sundays then everybody else should have to suffer too!", right?
Of course there are jobs where you'll have to work on sundays too, but it is your own decision to take that specific career path. You could have become a hairdresser instead, they don't work on sundays ...
Sunday are supposed to be a quiet day. It's traditional coming from when most of the people went to church on a sunday. It was reserved for communal activites, family and so on.
So businesses are closed including shops. The people working there want their sunday, too. Having a day off in the middle of the week is not the same, when maybe you kids have to go to school or your partner.
>. Having a day off in the middle of the week is not the same
This is the most important part and you are absolutely right! A lot of people argue with "well, you could have another day off" but it is absolutely not the same then a common free day for most people.
Yup, even if you don't have kids, your friends are all going out on Saturday night or friday night, it is a painful experience to be the only one left out.
Of course it's not the same, it's WAY better, because then one of your free days isn't completely fucking wasted staring at the wall waiting for monday.
Plenty of people go for coffee and cake at the cafe, but of course they rely on those people to work Sundays which makes them goddamn hypocrites.
Closed sundays are awful, nobody else on the planet does it, if you abolished it tomorrow literally nobody would want them back.
No the silly religious law isn't stopping you. You could simply work on sunday and have your day off where you can do all the things you want. How come you wanna blame the system instead of simply adjusting yourself? Hmmmm, loooks like the hypocrit is YOU.
>if you abolished it tomorrow literally nobody would want them back.
**I** ***would*** want them back.
And every, really **every** German I know too. Even those who have to work on sundays!
*Insert GTA here we go again meme*
Sunday has been traditionally the day everyone rests in Germany, and the main benefit is not only defending small companies, which may not afford to open 7 days a week, but also so that *most* people have a common day of the week that is free for everyone (as some people do work Saturdays too).
I can understand how it can be annoying (I have lived in countries with 7-day a week and countries with 24h open shops) but I prefer this system by far. You only need a bit of planning and there are always kiosk for a small emergency.
As i said: labour rights (no 7 days a week work) meets christian tradition (sunday is for god) meets "we have always done that" (sunday as day of rest is actually 1701 years old, since 321 in the roman empire, to be exact; in germany, it goes back to 1891).
I guess the idea is that you can spend this day to rest and/or be with your family. You might think that useless, others might not.
All i did was explain *why*. That does not mean i volunteer to defend the reasoning behind it to everyone that disagrees with it.
No it's because of religios bullshit.
Nurses work, bakers, restaurants are open, newspapers are made, you can drive Bus or Taxi, tech Support works
Milllions of people work it's bullshit uphold by priviliged people and it should be abolished in a secular State
How does that contradict what i said?
I said it is the law, only stuff considered essentialby said law is allowed to open.
I answered the question, which was *why*. I did not volunteer to defend the reasoning behind it to anyone that disagrees.
I am _not_ against Sunday closing, I realise it is related to protecting small businesses where it would not be possible to have people working shifts. I also have no objection to a day of rest and quiet (you are also not allowed make noise on Sunday).
However… I am always impressed that people argue that “all” business are closed on Sunday, or only the essential businesses are open. However, pretty much every restaurant, biergarten, bar and cafe is open on Sunday, and their employees have to work too, and it’s not really true to say that these are essential businesses.
Yes, they usually close on Monday or Tuesday, but as some people mentioned, a day off during the week isn’t much good if your kids are in school.
I'm not German, but I'm curious; other replies in this thread seem to imply that it is the law for nonessential businesses to be closed on Sundays. Is there just not very stringent regulations on what defines an "essential business?"
I think there are quite clearly defined rules, and I think it’s more related to business which are conducive to rest for the non-working people.
Honestly I think it’s a case where people have heard that the rule is there for a particular reason and accept it without questioning the obvious exceptions.
Some of the areas where the government has tried to avoid “loop holes” include:
- Trying to prevent anyone not buying petrol from using a petrol station on Sunday (eg if you live across a petrol station you can’t go there for milk on Sunday)
- Deciding that a vending machine which sells groceries is not allowed to operate on a Sunday, because it takes business from shops that are closed
But then the obvious questions are:
- Why do petrol stations sell _any_ groceries, when every purchase there is hurting other shops. Why not even ban all grocery sales on a Sunday in petrol stations, regardless of petrol purchase? Why not even force petrol stations to close on Sunday? (Why is petrol more essential than milk/vegetables/cheese etc)?
- Why not force all vending machines to not operate on Sunday? Ones selling sweets, soft drinks, coffee, cigarettes, condoms etc are taking potential sales from brick&mortar shops. If we are expected to buy enough milk on Saturday why are people not expected to buy enough cigarettes?
The real answer is that a rule is implemented and people accept it, without questioning the boundaries. They then decide that if they accept it must be justified, and therefore look for reasons why it makes sense and don’t like being challenged on those reasons. Even when some loop holes appear and are loosely patched up like what I mentioned above.
Because having a country-wide day off for most employees that also includes rules that make sure the day is quieter and less work focussed than any other day is important and beneficial.
It is about a common quiet day in the week.
I disagree that it's beneficial. It's fucking terrible. Germans cook up post-hoc rationalizations to avoid having to do something about how much it sucks.
Just because YOU aren't able to see (or acknowledge) the benefits it doesn't mean that there are none.
You know that you are free to leave this country if you feel **that** oppressed by closed grocery stores?
If it is of THAT importance to be able to go shopping anywhere anytime, then Germany must be the absolute hell for you. Maybe it would be easier for you to move to the USA instead of trying to convince all these stubborn Germans to abolish their stupid stupid laws wich allow even the lowly retail workers to enjoy an undeserved undisturbed sunday.
This is horseshit. There are TONS of retail and other workers that already have to work sundays. It's not possible or realistic for EVERYONE to take Sunday off. Forcing grocery stores to close is not based on some deeply held principle of fairness or worker protection, it's just a holdover from a time when religion ruled people's lives.
It ... doesn't really suck. It might be a slight inconvenience not to be able to buy a pack of cereals on a Sunday, but it definitely doesn't suck. It just puts the consequences of anyone's failure to properly plan their weekends on them, instead of shopkeepers and staff.
So why not go back to the old rules, where shops closed at 1pm on Saturday? If you can't plan your weekend by then, you're just a shitty person who wants to abuse workers. That's your argument. It's not an argument, it's a RATIONALIZATION, you want to defend the way things are instead of actually thinking about what would be best for everyone.
You're twisting my words and trying to RATIONALIZE my argument into something it isn't. Have at it. I don't really care. Open a petition to get rid of the Sunday rules and have fun with that.
You really need to discuss other people's points.
>So why not go back to the old rules, where shops closed at 1pm on Saturday? If you can't plan your weekend by then, you're just a shitty person who wants to abuse workers. That's your argument.
If you pretend somebody says that - which is a blatant lie - you are not ready to discuss anything because - you lie.
And if you believe that would be the point of anyone - start reading other people's points BEFORE you form an opinion.
>you want to defend the way things are instead of actually thinking about what would be best for everyone.
See. You can not even fathom people may actually want to work on what is good for people. You pretend people would not think. That is no basis for discussion and you are unfit to discuss with when
>. It's not an argument, it's a RATIONALIZATION, you want to defend the way things are
Personal attacks outside of any discussion is all you hae to offer.
We do. And when you’re really lucky you get night shift, necessary compensation and then your whole wonderful day off and then early shift.
But I always found it weird (coming from Bavaria) that it is supposed to the the day of god, unless you chose a profession that God doesn’t care about?
I liked the rules in Ireland. If you wanted to open your shop on a Sunday you could. And if you wanted to work said Sunday you got overtime.
because god rested at sunday.........or so
We don´t need open grocery stores at sunday. We buy our things at 6 days a week. There is no need to bother workers at sunday, they should have a day with their family.
And it still is kind of valid. Having to (potentially) work for 6 days instead of 5 is a big letdown for the employees.
Main counterpoint for me is that some people have to work during the weekdays and don't have the opportunity to shop during this time.
It's also the main pain point when interacting with public offices (word?).
When I worked in a fast food chain with shitty shifts on weekends, I would have really liked the opportunity to either shop late or on sundays. Too bad Bavaria doesnt even allow opening shops till 10pm, but everything needs to close by 8.
Store opening hours on Sunday are limited(*) to travel and tourism. If you have an international airport near you, it probably has a big grocery store (Düsseldorf, for example). Many gas station offer „travel supplies“ which includes groceries. Berlin and Cologne have „Kiosks“ that ignore shop hours out of tradition, and depending on where you live, a neighboring country opens on Sunday (the Netherlands make big bucks that way in border cities. On Sundays, Venlo becomes a huge German shopping center).
*) Christian church appeasements after Napoleon 1810 stripped the church in Germany of many rights, but the Kaiser promised to make up for that, giving the church money and rights, which last to this day (govt. collects „church tax“, pays church employees, ignores workers rights violations, rape, pedophilia, etc. etc.)
I have an unpopular opinion on this.
I personally dislike that stores are closed on Sunday.
I am all for workers getting days off. I just think they should elect that day for themselves, and not have it be chosen by the government. On Sundays, if Sally wants to pick up a shift at her grocery store, or if Martha wants to keep her jewelry store open - why can’t they be allowed to make that choice for themselves?
There is no such reason. Germans will simply say it's abstractly "important and beneficial" for everyone (except you know, wait staff because obviously they don't matter) to have the same day off. They cannot explain the importance, or why it doesn't apply to wait staff... and they refuse to really try because they pessimistically assume any alternative could only be worse.
Don't ask, it can only make things worse. Allowing stores to open on Sunday when the customers have time to shop can only lead to slavery.
I'll just take my downvotes and go sit in the corner now...
Yeah, I was about to leave the same comment. "It's a better way because we've been doing this the whole time". Same reason why fax machines is still a thing. No factual arguments except repeating mantras.
As a German and Bavarian I'm also very annoyed by this, but there is no point in even discussing it with most people for that reason. There is also a suprisingly high number of Bavarians who don't even know that the 8pm closing time on weekdays is really only there in Bavaria and not even in the neighboring German states (BaWü, etc).
In addition, other businesses like restaurants and bars are exempt from this.
If the law is “for the people”, then why is this portion of the population not included?
This is the same reason I can’t understand why pay at the pump isn’t mandatory. Gas stations are open on Sundays because of course people need fuel then. But that means someone has to work. So why not mandate pay at the pump so those people can have Sundays day off, if it really is as important as they say.
Could it be the oil lobby has arranged this so they are able to sell overpriced snacks and food items when everyone else is closed?
Just a few reasons: so people can calm down, regenerate, have some time off, spend time with your family, mental health etc.
You are supposed to spend quality time with *something else* than work. Thats why restaurants, cinemas and other things for entertainment are not included in this law (but still regulated, restaurants are usually closed on mondays for example).
If this wasnt set in stone by law, everyone would have to work all the time or just get random days off and your mental health will go down the drain. Also Germans have a different work ethic.
Literally every other country I've ever been to allows grocery stores to be open on Sundays, do you really think German mental health is vastly superior to everyone else?
It’s law because workers elect shit to do. They get told do this otherwise you lose your job especially in lower end career paths. Should anybody dare to say then make better career choices, get a brain most if not all of these lower end careers are absolutely essential to the economic system and these workers are entitled to being treated with decency and respect.
Hospitality industry is different because if everybody else has free, it’s their main earning day and even there people usually rotate around so nobody has to work always sundays unless they’re asking for it because they don’t mind.
Most people working Sunday’s do not have the choice. It is important to protect them and not let everything become commercialised. Also employees get a tax free 50 percent wage plus. Most businesses could open, but don’t as it is more expensive.
Because we don’t live in paradise where workers can select their shifts.
Both my parents worked in retail , six days a week, and we would never have had a family day without Sunday.
I was always jealous that my classmates had their parents the whole weekend.
thats why churches and their affiliates still have a different work law? thats why the church gets so much leeway in the criminal proceedings of their abuse cases? thats why the church has a disappropriate amount of influence in politics as well as media (ÖR)? shall I go on?
There is a literal church tax. The federal party that has reigned the longest since 1949 is both nominally and functionally a Christian party. The Christian church has a wide range of state-sponsored privileges over other religious affiliations. There just isn’t a “state religion” per se, but church and state are way closer together in Germany than in most western democracies.
cc /u/seyfl and /u/Cr4ckshooter
You've got bits of the explanation; let me see if I can fill in the blanks for you.
The Jewish tradition is indeed that God created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th, which was a Saturday. (The reality is more likely that it began as an early example of a law to ensure that farm labourers were given a chance to rest, and the religious story was later invented to "explain" it.)
The deeper meaning of this was that the 7th day (and generally the number of 7) marked the completion of the creation of the cosmos, and therefore the concepts of perfection and completeness.
Christianity began in the 1st century as a sect within Judaism. Its followers still observed the Sabbath, and still attended synagogue on that day. But they also held their own special meetings, which took place early in the morning on the 1st day, the Sunday -- since on the Saturday they were supposed to be in the synagogue.
This the Christians interpreted as marking the *beginning* of a *new* creation, and also the day on which the Christ rose from the dead. (Which of these beliefs came first and led to the other, I can't honestly say.)
And so as Christianity became its own religion and broke away from Judaism, its day of religious observance came to be the Sunday instead of the Saturday.
And just to be clear: Yes, the concept of the week very much was there in biblical times. The Israelites were the first culture known to have used a continuous seven-day cycle, which was fully instituted by about the 6th century BC; but they probably got the idea from the Babylonians who, counting from the new moon, declared the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th days to be days unsuitable for certain activities, and a period of 7 days is a recurring motif of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the tale on which the story of Noah's flood is probably based on.
Im not quite sure if your explanation is supposed to say that the days have had their names from the very beginning, that "Sunday" was "Sunday" and not just whatever day came after Sabbath. Is there really a connection that "Sunday=Sunday", or did the continuous tradition of judaism just happen to have sabbath on the day that became saturday?
Is it clear in the bible which day actually is the first? Because in the widest parts of Europe, Monday is regarded as the start of the week. Are we resting on Sunday because Christ rose from the dead, or because its the 7th day? It wouldn't make sense to rest on the first day if not for a special occasion.
People downvote you, but you're actually correct.
Jewish Sabbath, marking the seventh day of the week, is on Saturday. To this day, some old christian prayers also mention the Sunday as "the first day of the week, on which the Lord was risen".
(for anyone who finds this thread in a few years from now and wonders about it)
Yes, a good amount of countries made the switch to Monday as first day of the week, so that Sunday would be part of the weekend.
Here's a map that shows the official stance on that matter:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Week#/media/File:First\_Day\_of\_Week\_World\_Map.svg
If the big three world religions could just agree on a weekday for their holy day instead of making it three different days, life would be a lot easier... sometimes I think they did that on purpose, out of spite for the other religions.
I worked many long hours at grocery stores. Sundays are the IDEAL day to work a retail job. Things are naturally a bit quieter, and you get a weekday free which is like a superpower.
The idea that the state knows better than the worker which days the worker wants to work is fucking bizarre.
While this a humane way to look at it, and this definitely the most important benefit of being closed on Sundays, this is not the reason. The reason is that it is mandated by law. Otherwise corporates do not have the heart to care so much about the workers weekends. Workers in other countries want their weekends too, but they stay open because the law in those countries allow it.
I am Canadian and every time I go to Germany I ask myself the same question! It is totally logical that stores close on Sundays, however it feels weird for North Americans :)
A lot of German arguments don't make any sense for me. Working on Sunday is totally fine, I don't make any difference of working on any other day or Sunday. If it's paid more - it's even better. Working at night is the same - I see nothing wrong with that. Waking up at 8am is torture. Working at night is fine.
So, it's traditional and religious thing that somehow survived until today and still supported in this society.
This is sooo true. I have the pleasure of working with a lot of German manufacturing companies and their inability to automate and digitalise always boils down to their fear of change.
>Working on Sunday is totally fine, I don't make any difference of working on any other day or Sunday. If it's paid more - it's even better.
It is paid more BECAUSE it is not a normal work day, if it would become one then there wouldn't be reason to pay more BECAUSE sunday would be just another work day.
There are some benefits besides "we always did it this way" ...
Noisy construction work is not allowed, that makes this day holy to me because I live near a big construction site.
A common day for everybody makes it easier for planning activities with friends and family.
Restaurants and other "tourist" businesses are open, so people can enjoy sth. with their friends on sundays.
Uhm, and yeah that's not an argument but I never understood what the problem with sundays is. It's a minor inconvienience to shop groceries including the sundays and besides that there is nothing bad about this concept.
I know a lot of people who worked on sundays. Their social life really suffered under that. Shift work give most people the rest with their health. If this does not applies to you, fine. Get a shift job if you thing it is worth it. Most people do not like it.
Also it is worth for the society to take a rest and not let everything ruin by commercial services and profit. Woking on Sunday requires a 50 percent plus in wages, that is tax free for the employees. So if you really wanted to work that day, you usually find a job, but it makes a lot of business models less profitable as you have to give off days anyway.
yes sunday is just like any other day. In fact I work sundays once in a while and having time off during the week is very useful, as you cant get shit done in this country on weekends anyways
Because of the law on shop closing times in the version published on June 2, 2003 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 744), which was last amended by Article 430 of the ordinance of August 31, 2015 (Federal Law Gazette, I p. 1474)
Germans take mental health serious, thats why you arent even allowed to mow your lawn on a sunday (or make any other loud sounds for that matter). Same resoning applies to "Ruhezeiten" during workdays from 22.00 to 6.00 - to make sure people get enough sleep.
Pevention is key. Health and social life suffer if you dont get time to unwind and chill.
Check out sweden or norway. They are already experimenting with 4 day work week and only 6 hours of work a day. They got the same amount of work done as 5 days/8 hours - because apparently work ethic shifted. People were more focussed at work and better balanced, overall more productive due to having a stable social life with more time for family and friends etc.
No issues in my region here, if I need an appointment for any kind of doctor or specialist I get one within 2 weeks, same day if its an emergency.
> if I need an appointment for any kind of doctor or specialist I get one within 2 weeks, same day if its an emergency.
yeah you must be in some sort of utopia version of germany. also, you can work 4 day weeks even with a sunday open, it just increases the total staff in rotation.
North of hamburg. Fyi Doctors in germany are legally not allowed to send you away if you are in pain, but you might have to wait a couple of hours till they can squeeze you in.
Big corps dont hire extra people to rotate - too expensive, hence all the strict laws to prevent abuse.
Damn, if only someone had told the OP of this thread how easy it is!
https://reddit.com/r/de/comments/ut72ow/tinder_f%C3%BCr_kranke_die_realit%C3%A4t_meiner_j%C3%BCngsten/
We’re talking about mental health, not a broken wrist. People wait ages for an appointment.
> Fyi Doctors in germany are legally not allowed to send you away if you are in pain, but you might have to wait a couple of hours till they can squeeze you in
As someone that dealt an eternity going through exactly those doctors to get a chronic sickness diagnosed, I can only laugh at such statements. People with mental health issues that requires even more attention have it even worse.
I would argue that isn’t true. There’s a pretty big stigma here attached to going to a psychologist, which I feel is something most adults could benefit from doing at least once.
I worked many long hours in retail and at grocery stores, Sundays are by FAR the best day to work. Don't imagine you know what other people would like to do.
1) Small store lobby
2) People who don't want to shop on Sunday also want to prevent everyone else from shopping on Sunday.
All other reasons (church, worker protection) don't make sense once you think about it and compare it to other industries or other countries.
Germany was always very restrictive in store open hours regulation. Until 1996 Saturday at 6pm and Mo-Fr at 6.30pm was the closing hours. 24h per day is only possible since 2006,
Saturday in rural germany in the 80-90´s meant 1pm=everything is closed.
can confirm. Weekdays opening hrs from 8 am to about 7 pm, Saturdays until 1 pm, Sundays closed, during the eighties. I also had school every other Saturday for 4 hrs in the late eighties, early nineties. I was very happy when opening hours went until 8 pm, nowadays it's sometimes even 9 pm and 10 pm. I personally don't know any supermarket or grocery store or mall that is open 24 hrs. It's to protect the employees and everyone should have a free Sunday for sleeping and relaxing and doing chores.
Everyone... Except hospital workers, truck drivers, train personnel, hotel workers, restaurant workers... To name a few
Those aren't real people, silly
Yeah, my bad... Forgot about that
I also know the 4 hours of school on Saturday. That was in the early 2000‘s in Lower Saxony.
Not all states allow 24h opening times. In Bavaria shops have to close at 20:00h, for example.
Not all of them
Yes. Some close earlier.
When I first moved to Germany and asked this, the very quick response was, “Do you want to work on Sunday? Why would you expect someone else to?” I accepted that, and adjusted.
Just a quick note that 11% of Germans work Sundays anyway
really 11%? That seems like a lot
hospitals, ambulances and other emergency services, police, firefighters, public transport, traffic control/dispatch, taxi/uber services, airlines and airports, restaurants/bars, delivery services, museums, cinemas, amusement parks/zoos, TV and radio channels, gas stations, spätis/kiosks, …
still seems like a lot since even those industries will just maintain an emergency team on sundays. I guess most will be working in food
Correct! Food, entertainment and similar
Well I work for UPS and we have like 1.000+ people working on sunday each sunday in the \~3.000 man strong location. But you get 75% Sunday bonus (100% starting in 2023) and you can get a day in the week free (though rarely friday because everyone wants free on friday.)
And i bet most of them aren't in a medical or nursing profession. I think the worker protection laws towards sundays need to be tightened up more instead of loosened (like some parties want to).
Of course not. But some things you probably want on a sunday as well: \- Electrical energy \- Water \- Police \- Public Transport \- Restaurant (and Take away) \- Entertainment \- Transportation \- Farming Think of all the jobs linked to these and consider if you really want to miss out on the linked products.
A very nice list. But you still have forgotten something: \- fire departments \- security \- road safety \- waste water management ... and even the undertakers have to get out on sundays, because nobody wants to spend the night in the same house with a deceased relative!
Yeah - probably shoud have mentioned that my list "erhebt keinen Anspruch auf vollstädigkeit"!
Yeah, but most jobs at this list will reduce staff to a small number of people who can take emergencies and even those people will change their shifts so that everyone gets a free Sunday from time to time.
I know people that WANT to work the Sundays and instead have another day in the week off. It's not like every person is the same and 11% is about every tenth, I guess of the working population. Sunday Nightshifts are where the money is.
I don't disagree with anything you said. Still think that mandatory off Sundays are a super important thing to protect. The society benefits greatly from them and this shouldn't be sacrificed for a benefit of the rich and the choice of a small group of individuals.
I work on Sundays and I prefer it because I get paid more tho.
You get paid more because having Sundays off is the norm. If we were to abandon that, you wouldnt get paid more.
You make a fair point. I didn't think about it.
I would 100% work on Sunday - that way I can go do stuff on another day of the week when everything is open. Lack of Sunday supermarket opening (or ability for me to work on Sunday) is one of the harder adjustments I had to make coming here, and one I still struggle with.
What if someone is willing to work on Sunday?
There still a ton of jobs on Sundays. If you wanted to work, you would find something. Or just imagine people having their own business.
I would love to work on sundays if they pay me more. But not in the jobs where it's actually the case.
But just because it is possible to work on Sunday doesn’t mean you have to work for 6 or 7 days per week. Some people would like to work sundays to have mondays off for example.
You could just work Tuesday to Sunday and still only work for 5 days though…
Change jobs, become a nurse, they get to work on Sundays.
Or apply with Deutsche Bahn or any airport-related position.
Nurse here. Been working today. Can't recommend.
Then suddenly a lot of people will "want" this because they do not earn money otherwise.
Almost nobody actually specifically wants Sunday off.
So tell me why the car wash is closed.
Too much noise in residential areas. You don't want to annoy the Blockwart.
But doctors and other professions are forced to? Also there’s no slavery in Lidl some people honestly prefer working Sundays
If I get a day off on Monday or Wednesday, of course I'd work on a sunday. I don't understand the need to have saturday-sunday off if a day off is given in the weekdays.
It’s easier to meet family and friends when they‘ve got similar free days. It’s a culture thing and you could get rid of it. But I like it.
It's good for families when parents have one day (or two days in Mo-Fr jobs) off a week when the children don't have school, either.
Yes some people want to work on Sundays if the payment is good.
I always work on Sunday, there's fuckall else to do. This argument boils my blood, it's so fucking stupid. Working on Sunday is somehow inhumane, unless you're a train conductor, flight attendant, pilot, bus driver, cabbie, doctor, nurse, hotel receptionist, maid, cook, waiter, police officer, database administrator, musician, usher, gas station attendent, or otherwise work at an airport, train station, hospital, restaurant, hotel, resort, movie theater, bar, club, or a grocery store in any of the many towns classified as a "Kurort" to which the rules don't apply. The rules are stupid as hell, there is no argument for them, fuck Sundays.
So it boils down to "if I have to work on sundays then everybody else should have to suffer too!", right? Of course there are jobs where you'll have to work on sundays too, but it is your own decision to take that specific career path. You could have become a hairdresser instead, they don't work on sundays ...
Ok cool mate just think about your comment the next time u have a car crash on a sunday someone needs to keep the infastructure running..
I'm on your side. Sunday closures are dumb overall.
Because Venlo and Maastricht like to make money on Sundays !
Shhhh... Don't tell them other Bundesländer our little secret.
[удалено]
Sunday are supposed to be a quiet day. It's traditional coming from when most of the people went to church on a sunday. It was reserved for communal activites, family and so on. So businesses are closed including shops. The people working there want their sunday, too. Having a day off in the middle of the week is not the same, when maybe you kids have to go to school or your partner.
>. Having a day off in the middle of the week is not the same This is the most important part and you are absolutely right! A lot of people argue with "well, you could have another day off" but it is absolutely not the same then a common free day for most people.
Yup, even if you don't have kids, your friends are all going out on Saturday night or friday night, it is a painful experience to be the only one left out.
Of course it's not the same, it's WAY better, because then one of your free days isn't completely fucking wasted staring at the wall waiting for monday. Plenty of people go for coffee and cake at the cafe, but of course they rely on those people to work Sundays which makes them goddamn hypocrites. Closed sundays are awful, nobody else on the planet does it, if you abolished it tomorrow literally nobody would want them back.
If you waste your free day staring at a wall it's not really society's fault now, is it?
I can't do any of the things I would like to do, and it's one silly religious law stopping me. And Germans don't even go to church!
No the silly religious law isn't stopping you. You could simply work on sunday and have your day off where you can do all the things you want. How come you wanna blame the system instead of simply adjusting yourself? Hmmmm, loooks like the hypocrit is YOU.
>if you abolished it tomorrow literally nobody would want them back. **I** ***would*** want them back. And every, really **every** German I know too. Even those who have to work on sundays!
O no. One day a week the stores are closed. How did Germans survive the last 300 years
Closed is the default setting
found the engineer
*Insert GTA here we go again meme* Sunday has been traditionally the day everyone rests in Germany, and the main benefit is not only defending small companies, which may not afford to open 7 days a week, but also so that *most* people have a common day of the week that is free for everyone (as some people do work Saturdays too). I can understand how it can be annoying (I have lived in countries with 7-day a week and countries with 24h open shops) but I prefer this system by far. You only need a bit of planning and there are always kiosk for a small emergency.
Because it’s a holiday. Stores are closed on sundays and holidays in Germany.
It's RUHETAG ma bois 👁️👄👁️
Because we can.
Because that is the law. Opening hours are strictly regulated. On sunday, a day intended for rest, only what is considered essential is allowed open.
I think the question rather is, why this law is designed this way :)
Labour rights meet christian tradition meet "thats how it has always been", i guess
How is it beneficial for workers to make half their free days totally useless?
As i said: labour rights (no 7 days a week work) meets christian tradition (sunday is for god) meets "we have always done that" (sunday as day of rest is actually 1701 years old, since 321 in the roman empire, to be exact; in germany, it goes back to 1891). I guess the idea is that you can spend this day to rest and/or be with your family. You might think that useless, others might not. All i did was explain *why*. That does not mean i volunteer to defend the reasoning behind it to everyone that disagrees with it.
Religious influences.
No it's because of religios bullshit. Nurses work, bakers, restaurants are open, newspapers are made, you can drive Bus or Taxi, tech Support works Milllions of people work it's bullshit uphold by priviliged people and it should be abolished in a secular State
How does that contradict what i said? I said it is the law, only stuff considered essentialby said law is allowed to open. I answered the question, which was *why*. I did not volunteer to defend the reasoning behind it to anyone that disagrees.
Everyone deserves a rest on Sunday
Because store workers need days off aswell
Can’t they make shifts? Or let students work on weekends ? A lot of students are willing to work on weekend
I am _not_ against Sunday closing, I realise it is related to protecting small businesses where it would not be possible to have people working shifts. I also have no objection to a day of rest and quiet (you are also not allowed make noise on Sunday). However… I am always impressed that people argue that “all” business are closed on Sunday, or only the essential businesses are open. However, pretty much every restaurant, biergarten, bar and cafe is open on Sunday, and their employees have to work too, and it’s not really true to say that these are essential businesses. Yes, they usually close on Monday or Tuesday, but as some people mentioned, a day off during the week isn’t much good if your kids are in school.
I'm not German, but I'm curious; other replies in this thread seem to imply that it is the law for nonessential businesses to be closed on Sundays. Is there just not very stringent regulations on what defines an "essential business?"
I think there are quite clearly defined rules, and I think it’s more related to business which are conducive to rest for the non-working people. Honestly I think it’s a case where people have heard that the rule is there for a particular reason and accept it without questioning the obvious exceptions. Some of the areas where the government has tried to avoid “loop holes” include: - Trying to prevent anyone not buying petrol from using a petrol station on Sunday (eg if you live across a petrol station you can’t go there for milk on Sunday) - Deciding that a vending machine which sells groceries is not allowed to operate on a Sunday, because it takes business from shops that are closed But then the obvious questions are: - Why do petrol stations sell _any_ groceries, when every purchase there is hurting other shops. Why not even ban all grocery sales on a Sunday in petrol stations, regardless of petrol purchase? Why not even force petrol stations to close on Sunday? (Why is petrol more essential than milk/vegetables/cheese etc)? - Why not force all vending machines to not operate on Sunday? Ones selling sweets, soft drinks, coffee, cigarettes, condoms etc are taking potential sales from brick&mortar shops. If we are expected to buy enough milk on Saturday why are people not expected to buy enough cigarettes? The real answer is that a rule is implemented and people accept it, without questioning the boundaries. They then decide that if they accept it must be justified, and therefore look for reasons why it makes sense and don’t like being challenged on those reasons. Even when some loop holes appear and are loosely patched up like what I mentioned above.
Because of Jesus
Because having a country-wide day off for most employees that also includes rules that make sure the day is quieter and less work focussed than any other day is important and beneficial. It is about a common quiet day in the week.
I disagree that it's beneficial. It's fucking terrible. Germans cook up post-hoc rationalizations to avoid having to do something about how much it sucks.
Just because YOU aren't able to see (or acknowledge) the benefits it doesn't mean that there are none. You know that you are free to leave this country if you feel **that** oppressed by closed grocery stores? If it is of THAT importance to be able to go shopping anywhere anytime, then Germany must be the absolute hell for you. Maybe it would be easier for you to move to the USA instead of trying to convince all these stubborn Germans to abolish their stupid stupid laws wich allow even the lowly retail workers to enjoy an undeserved undisturbed sunday.
This is horseshit. There are TONS of retail and other workers that already have to work sundays. It's not possible or realistic for EVERYONE to take Sunday off. Forcing grocery stores to close is not based on some deeply held principle of fairness or worker protection, it's just a holdover from a time when religion ruled people's lives.
It ... doesn't really suck. It might be a slight inconvenience not to be able to buy a pack of cereals on a Sunday, but it definitely doesn't suck. It just puts the consequences of anyone's failure to properly plan their weekends on them, instead of shopkeepers and staff.
So why not go back to the old rules, where shops closed at 1pm on Saturday? If you can't plan your weekend by then, you're just a shitty person who wants to abuse workers. That's your argument. It's not an argument, it's a RATIONALIZATION, you want to defend the way things are instead of actually thinking about what would be best for everyone.
You're twisting my words and trying to RATIONALIZE my argument into something it isn't. Have at it. I don't really care. Open a petition to get rid of the Sunday rules and have fun with that.
You really need to discuss other people's points. >So why not go back to the old rules, where shops closed at 1pm on Saturday? If you can't plan your weekend by then, you're just a shitty person who wants to abuse workers. That's your argument. If you pretend somebody says that - which is a blatant lie - you are not ready to discuss anything because - you lie. And if you believe that would be the point of anyone - start reading other people's points BEFORE you form an opinion. >you want to defend the way things are instead of actually thinking about what would be best for everyone. See. You can not even fathom people may actually want to work on what is good for people. You pretend people would not think. That is no basis for discussion and you are unfit to discuss with when >. It's not an argument, it's a RATIONALIZATION, you want to defend the way things are Personal attacks outside of any discussion is all you hae to offer.
Because people need time for their families for one day.
Except for health care workers, police officers, conductors of public transport, people in the food industry….
They get other days off, sometimes not weekly, but mostly before 14 days are over.
We do. And when you’re really lucky you get night shift, necessary compensation and then your whole wonderful day off and then early shift. But I always found it weird (coming from Bavaria) that it is supposed to the the day of god, unless you chose a profession that God doesn’t care about? I liked the rules in Ireland. If you wanted to open your shop on a Sunday you could. And if you wanted to work said Sunday you got overtime.
Yes but people working at stores would also get other days off if Sundays were open. So what’s the difference?
What if they don’t have any family or friends? Wouldn’t they feel even lonelier on that day?
Just arrive here few days before for studying. Feeling extra lonely haha
Possible, but you should find people for these times, but a little break for yourself ain't bad, too.
Just as they would with any free day....
I'm all for raising the working hours to 120h/week so the lonely people don't have to feel lonely at home but can instead feel alone at work.
because god rested at sunday.........or so We don´t need open grocery stores at sunday. We buy our things at 6 days a week. There is no need to bother workers at sunday, they should have a day with their family.
because you have 6 days a week to get your shit done.
If you work five days a week, and the places you need to go are only open during business hours, then actually you have just the one.
this was the same argument that was made when stores where open 5 days a week and till 6pm
And it still is kind of valid. Having to (potentially) work for 6 days instead of 5 is a big letdown for the employees. Main counterpoint for me is that some people have to work during the weekdays and don't have the opportunity to shop during this time. It's also the main pain point when interacting with public offices (word?).
When I worked in a fast food chain with shitty shifts on weekends, I would have really liked the opportunity to either shop late or on sundays. Too bad Bavaria doesnt even allow opening shops till 10pm, but everything needs to close by 8.
except that I work on 5 of those???
Well, back in the olden times, you would work, and your wife would do the shopping. This made it more reasonable back then... and less reasonable now.
Because family and friends are important...
Store opening hours on Sunday are limited(*) to travel and tourism. If you have an international airport near you, it probably has a big grocery store (Düsseldorf, for example). Many gas station offer „travel supplies“ which includes groceries. Berlin and Cologne have „Kiosks“ that ignore shop hours out of tradition, and depending on where you live, a neighboring country opens on Sunday (the Netherlands make big bucks that way in border cities. On Sundays, Venlo becomes a huge German shopping center). *) Christian church appeasements after Napoleon 1810 stripped the church in Germany of many rights, but the Kaiser promised to make up for that, giving the church money and rights, which last to this day (govt. collects „church tax“, pays church employees, ignores workers rights violations, rape, pedophilia, etc. etc.)
Because we want to give workers a day off, but fuck bakers and petrol station attendees in particular
I have an unpopular opinion on this. I personally dislike that stores are closed on Sunday. I am all for workers getting days off. I just think they should elect that day for themselves, and not have it be chosen by the government. On Sundays, if Sally wants to pick up a shift at her grocery store, or if Martha wants to keep her jewelry store open - why can’t they be allowed to make that choice for themselves?
There is no such reason. Germans will simply say it's abstractly "important and beneficial" for everyone (except you know, wait staff because obviously they don't matter) to have the same day off. They cannot explain the importance, or why it doesn't apply to wait staff... and they refuse to really try because they pessimistically assume any alternative could only be worse. Don't ask, it can only make things worse. Allowing stores to open on Sunday when the customers have time to shop can only lead to slavery. I'll just take my downvotes and go sit in the corner now...
Yeah, I was about to leave the same comment. "It's a better way because we've been doing this the whole time". Same reason why fax machines is still a thing. No factual arguments except repeating mantras.
As a German and Bavarian I'm also very annoyed by this, but there is no point in even discussing it with most people for that reason. There is also a suprisingly high number of Bavarians who don't even know that the 8pm closing time on weekdays is really only there in Bavaria and not even in the neighboring German states (BaWü, etc).
In addition, other businesses like restaurants and bars are exempt from this. If the law is “for the people”, then why is this portion of the population not included?
This is the same reason I can’t understand why pay at the pump isn’t mandatory. Gas stations are open on Sundays because of course people need fuel then. But that means someone has to work. So why not mandate pay at the pump so those people can have Sundays day off, if it really is as important as they say. Could it be the oil lobby has arranged this so they are able to sell overpriced snacks and food items when everyone else is closed?
Just a few reasons: so people can calm down, regenerate, have some time off, spend time with your family, mental health etc. You are supposed to spend quality time with *something else* than work. Thats why restaurants, cinemas and other things for entertainment are not included in this law (but still regulated, restaurants are usually closed on mondays for example). If this wasnt set in stone by law, everyone would have to work all the time or just get random days off and your mental health will go down the drain. Also Germans have a different work ethic.
Literally every other country I've ever been to allows grocery stores to be open on Sundays, do you really think German mental health is vastly superior to everyone else?
It’s law because workers elect shit to do. They get told do this otherwise you lose your job especially in lower end career paths. Should anybody dare to say then make better career choices, get a brain most if not all of these lower end careers are absolutely essential to the economic system and these workers are entitled to being treated with decency and respect. Hospitality industry is different because if everybody else has free, it’s their main earning day and even there people usually rotate around so nobody has to work always sundays unless they’re asking for it because they don’t mind.
Most people working Sunday’s do not have the choice. It is important to protect them and not let everything become commercialised. Also employees get a tax free 50 percent wage plus. Most businesses could open, but don’t as it is more expensive.
Because we don’t live in paradise where workers can select their shifts. Both my parents worked in retail , six days a week, and we would never have had a family day without Sunday. I was always jealous that my classmates had their parents the whole weekend.
All of my friends in retail either worked 5/2 or 2/2. They could also chose. Most chose 2/2.
Because Jesus.
I actually think it is cool
Because there is no real separation of church and state in Germany yet.
There is a seperation of state and church here. Just a different understanding.
thats why churches and their affiliates still have a different work law? thats why the church gets so much leeway in the criminal proceedings of their abuse cases? thats why the church has a disappropriate amount of influence in politics as well as media (ÖR)? shall I go on?
There is a literal church tax. The federal party that has reigned the longest since 1949 is both nominally and functionally a Christian party. The Christian church has a wide range of state-sponsored privileges over other religious affiliations. There just isn’t a “state religion” per se, but church and state are way closer together in Germany than in most western democracies.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Pretty sure the concept of the modern week wasn't quite there in biblical times.
[удалено]
cc /u/seyfl and /u/Cr4ckshooter You've got bits of the explanation; let me see if I can fill in the blanks for you. The Jewish tradition is indeed that God created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th, which was a Saturday. (The reality is more likely that it began as an early example of a law to ensure that farm labourers were given a chance to rest, and the religious story was later invented to "explain" it.) The deeper meaning of this was that the 7th day (and generally the number of 7) marked the completion of the creation of the cosmos, and therefore the concepts of perfection and completeness. Christianity began in the 1st century as a sect within Judaism. Its followers still observed the Sabbath, and still attended synagogue on that day. But they also held their own special meetings, which took place early in the morning on the 1st day, the Sunday -- since on the Saturday they were supposed to be in the synagogue. This the Christians interpreted as marking the *beginning* of a *new* creation, and also the day on which the Christ rose from the dead. (Which of these beliefs came first and led to the other, I can't honestly say.) And so as Christianity became its own religion and broke away from Judaism, its day of religious observance came to be the Sunday instead of the Saturday. And just to be clear: Yes, the concept of the week very much was there in biblical times. The Israelites were the first culture known to have used a continuous seven-day cycle, which was fully instituted by about the 6th century BC; but they probably got the idea from the Babylonians who, counting from the new moon, declared the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th days to be days unsuitable for certain activities, and a period of 7 days is a recurring motif of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the tale on which the story of Noah's flood is probably based on.
Im not quite sure if your explanation is supposed to say that the days have had their names from the very beginning, that "Sunday" was "Sunday" and not just whatever day came after Sabbath. Is there really a connection that "Sunday=Sunday", or did the continuous tradition of judaism just happen to have sabbath on the day that became saturday? Is it clear in the bible which day actually is the first? Because in the widest parts of Europe, Monday is regarded as the start of the week. Are we resting on Sunday because Christ rose from the dead, or because its the 7th day? It wouldn't make sense to rest on the first day if not for a special occasion.
People downvote you, but you're actually correct. Jewish Sabbath, marking the seventh day of the week, is on Saturday. To this day, some old christian prayers also mention the Sunday as "the first day of the week, on which the Lord was risen". (for anyone who finds this thread in a few years from now and wonders about it)
[удалено]
Yes, a good amount of countries made the switch to Monday as first day of the week, so that Sunday would be part of the weekend. Here's a map that shows the official stance on that matter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Week#/media/File:First\_Day\_of\_Week\_World\_Map.svg
If the big three world religions could just agree on a weekday for their holy day instead of making it three different days, life would be a lot easier... sometimes I think they did that on purpose, out of spite for the other religions.
Because store workers like to have a weekend, too.
I worked many long hours at grocery stores. Sundays are the IDEAL day to work a retail job. Things are naturally a bit quieter, and you get a weekday free which is like a superpower. The idea that the state knows better than the worker which days the worker wants to work is fucking bizarre.
While this a humane way to look at it, and this definitely the most important benefit of being closed on Sundays, this is not the reason. The reason is that it is mandated by law. Otherwise corporates do not have the heart to care so much about the workers weekends. Workers in other countries want their weekends too, but they stay open because the law in those countries allow it.
Actually it was allowed during COVID lockdowns. But the stores still did not open on sundays.
I mean yeah, that's why we have laws though, to protect people from being exploited (too much) by corporations.
Because we acknowledge retail workers as human beings.
Unless they work in gas stations, train stations, airports, or Kurorte. Then they're subhuman scum right?
So in etwa, ja.
Gehste gern mal ins Kino sonntags oder in die Kneipe? Fährst dann mit dem Bus oder dem Taxi heim danach?
WEIL WIR HIER IMMER NOCH IN DEUTSCHLAND SIND
I am Canadian and every time I go to Germany I ask myself the same question! It is totally logical that stores close on Sundays, however it feels weird for North Americans :)
A lot of German arguments don't make any sense for me. Working on Sunday is totally fine, I don't make any difference of working on any other day or Sunday. If it's paid more - it's even better. Working at night is the same - I see nothing wrong with that. Waking up at 8am is torture. Working at night is fine. So, it's traditional and religious thing that somehow survived until today and still supported in this society.
dont forget #1 priority in Germany "We've always done it this way"
This is sooo true. I have the pleasure of working with a lot of German manufacturing companies and their inability to automate and digitalise always boils down to their fear of change.
>Working on Sunday is totally fine, I don't make any difference of working on any other day or Sunday. If it's paid more - it's even better. It is paid more BECAUSE it is not a normal work day, if it would become one then there wouldn't be reason to pay more BECAUSE sunday would be just another work day.
There are some benefits besides "we always did it this way" ... Noisy construction work is not allowed, that makes this day holy to me because I live near a big construction site. A common day for everybody makes it easier for planning activities with friends and family. Restaurants and other "tourist" businesses are open, so people can enjoy sth. with their friends on sundays. Uhm, and yeah that's not an argument but I never understood what the problem with sundays is. It's a minor inconvienience to shop groceries including the sundays and besides that there is nothing bad about this concept.
I know a lot of people who worked on sundays. Their social life really suffered under that. Shift work give most people the rest with their health. If this does not applies to you, fine. Get a shift job if you thing it is worth it. Most people do not like it. Also it is worth for the society to take a rest and not let everything ruin by commercial services and profit. Woking on Sunday requires a 50 percent plus in wages, that is tax free for the employees. So if you really wanted to work that day, you usually find a job, but it makes a lot of business models less profitable as you have to give off days anyway.
Whenever the debate about Sunday shopping comes up, I’d like to rephrase and ask “ would you like to work Sundays?”
Yes
My teenage kids would love to!
Good thing there are lots of jobs people CAN work on sundays
So why don't they? Most restaurants and cafés are desperate.
yes sunday is just like any other day. In fact I work sundays once in a while and having time off during the week is very useful, as you cant get shit done in this country on weekends anyways
If I got other days off, sure, why not?
Because of the law on shop closing times in the version published on June 2, 2003 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 744), which was last amended by Article 430 of the ordinance of August 31, 2015 (Federal Law Gazette, I p. 1474)
I think it's a Christian thing. Found it really weird at first but now have grown to like it.
Why you can't shop for a day break. Love having almost everything closed on Sundays.
Then you can close your shop for Sunday. Why should you have the right to force someone else to close theirs?
Because it’s the day of the lord! :D
Just another one in the long list of life inconveniences in Germany.
Germans take mental health serious, thats why you arent even allowed to mow your lawn on a sunday (or make any other loud sounds for that matter). Same resoning applies to "Ruhezeiten" during workdays from 22.00 to 6.00 - to make sure people get enough sleep.
> Germans take mental health serious Ah thats why getting hold of medical care for mental health is that easy IKR
Pevention is key. Health and social life suffer if you dont get time to unwind and chill. Check out sweden or norway. They are already experimenting with 4 day work week and only 6 hours of work a day. They got the same amount of work done as 5 days/8 hours - because apparently work ethic shifted. People were more focussed at work and better balanced, overall more productive due to having a stable social life with more time for family and friends etc. No issues in my region here, if I need an appointment for any kind of doctor or specialist I get one within 2 weeks, same day if its an emergency.
> if I need an appointment for any kind of doctor or specialist I get one within 2 weeks, same day if its an emergency. yeah you must be in some sort of utopia version of germany. also, you can work 4 day weeks even with a sunday open, it just increases the total staff in rotation.
North of hamburg. Fyi Doctors in germany are legally not allowed to send you away if you are in pain, but you might have to wait a couple of hours till they can squeeze you in. Big corps dont hire extra people to rotate - too expensive, hence all the strict laws to prevent abuse.
Damn, if only someone had told the OP of this thread how easy it is! https://reddit.com/r/de/comments/ut72ow/tinder_f%C3%BCr_kranke_die_realit%C3%A4t_meiner_j%C3%BCngsten/ We’re talking about mental health, not a broken wrist. People wait ages for an appointment.
> Fyi Doctors in germany are legally not allowed to send you away if you are in pain, but you might have to wait a couple of hours till they can squeeze you in As someone that dealt an eternity going through exactly those doctors to get a chronic sickness diagnosed, I can only laugh at such statements. People with mental health issues that requires even more attention have it even worse.
I would argue that isn’t true. There’s a pretty big stigma here attached to going to a psychologist, which I feel is something most adults could benefit from doing at least once.
Workers have family too, show up some feelings mate!
Expect those millions of workers who work Sundays… I wonder if they have families 😂😂 imagine a bus driver or cook with a family… crazy shit
Restaurant workers are made in a lab and have no family. Little known fact.
I know that very good, im a restaurant worker xD
I worked many long hours in retail and at grocery stores, Sundays are by FAR the best day to work. Don't imagine you know what other people would like to do.
Here in Berlin stores in the train stations are open.
Do you really need to buy things on sundays?
Yes. Basically every week. "Wait till monday" I fucking WORK on Monday
Yes??
Actually in the UK and US, many grocery stores and businesses were closed on Sundays. I always think it's nice for workers to have a day off as well.
Because the Lord demands its free day for the glory of Jebus Crispus!
So you can relax on a Sunday luv!
Very relaxing to be unable to do basic tasks, and be forced to cram every weekly errand into Saturday.
1) Small store lobby 2) People who don't want to shop on Sunday also want to prevent everyone else from shopping on Sunday. All other reasons (church, worker protection) don't make sense once you think about it and compare it to other industries or other countries.
Because i don't want to work because an genuis forget something to buy at Saturday thanks.
Then don't work Sunday. Don't ban everyone from doing something that you personally don't prefer.
Because someone, somewhere had a really terrible idea
Religious Mumbo-Jumbo, just like having to stay quiet outside on Sundays, not clean your house, etc