Economy
Sunday shopping on the political agenda again in Hungary
Ever since the cabinet rescinded legislation that kept stores closed on Sundays we have been working out measures to ease the additional burden on employees, KDNP caucus leader Péter Harrach told the paper. He has presented two potential proposals:
János Halász, spokesman for the parliamentary group of the ruling Fidesz party, said there will be consultations until the autumn, but there are no specifics yet. He has also denied a report by local daily newspaper Népszabadság on the weekend that the government wants do create legislation that would ban stores from remaining open after noon on Sundays.
It said that if stores with a shopping area of over 400 square metres want to be open after noon they will have to pay a certain part of their afternoon revenues as a levy. The rate of the tax can easily be set in a way that it would not be worth to keep doors open, the paper said. The move would once again benefit smaller stores. This was the goal behind the Sunday shopping ban too.
The paper said that informally the Economy Ministry has already been notified of the plan, but no formal decision has been made yet. Also, Economy Minister Mihály Varga took note of the concept with muted enthusiasm. At the ministry they believe the market should be given some breathing space after several measures affecting at the retail sector.
One thing is for certain: the government is cooking something up for the retail sector - and not everyone is going to like its taste. A ministerial commissioner talked about this in early August. Although he did not mention specifics, the following information have been leaked about the possible measures:
- Two free Sundays instead of one for everyone working in commerce. This was a proposal by the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers (NAEE or VOSZ).
- No one should need to work more than eight hours on a Sunday. This was proposed by one of the trade unions.
János Halász, spokesman for the parliamentary group of the ruling Fidesz party, said there will be consultations until the autumn, but there are no specifics yet. He has also denied a report by local daily newspaper Népszabadság on the weekend that the government wants do create legislation that would ban stores from remaining open after noon on Sundays.
It said that if stores with a shopping area of over 400 square metres want to be open after noon they will have to pay a certain part of their afternoon revenues as a levy. The rate of the tax can easily be set in a way that it would not be worth to keep doors open, the paper said. The move would once again benefit smaller stores. This was the goal behind the Sunday shopping ban too.
The paper said that informally the Economy Ministry has already been notified of the plan, but no formal decision has been made yet. Also, Economy Minister Mihály Varga took note of the concept with muted enthusiasm. At the ministry they believe the market should be given some breathing space after several measures affecting at the retail sector.
The Sunday shopping ban was abolished and it will stay that way. Anyone else claiming otherwise is lying
, Halász stressedOne thing is for certain: the government is cooking something up for the retail sector - and not everyone is going to like its taste. A ministerial commissioner talked about this in early August. Although he did not mention specifics, the following information have been leaked about the possible measures:
- Népszabadság reported last week that there would be not one but two free Sundays in retail trade; and that
- Anyone working on a Sunday must have the next Saturday as a rest day.
- There would be brackets for supplementary pay.
- According to the latest reports, stores would need to close on Sundays at noon. Stores of over 400 sqm shopping area would need to pay additional tax.
