Retail Stores (New
Year’s Day 2022)
6. Mark Griffin (Central
Scotland) (Lab)
To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will
require large retail stores to close on new year’s day 2022 so
that retail workers can spend the day with their loved ones.
(S6F-00579)
The First Minister
()
I whole-heartedly appreciate the efforts of retail workers, who
have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic. Members have
heard me say before in the chamber that I am sympathetic to calls
for large stores to close on new year’s day.
We have looked carefully at the issue, and the minister set out
our conclusions to Parliament not long ago. The Christmas Day and
New Year’s Day Trading (Scotland) Act 2007 does not ensure that
all retail employees would get a day off or, crucially, that they
would be paid for that day off. We want to go further than the
legislation currently allows by focusing on wider fair work
principles across the retail sector. We will do that through our
forthcoming retail strategy, as the minister set out in a
statement on 26 October.
Mark Griffin
The First Minister will know that, despite what she says, there
is deep disappointment with the Government’s decision not to use
existing powers to close large retail stores on new year’s day.
The Government has made that decision against not only the
overwhelming response from workers, who are in favour of closure,
but a Government report that states that closure is unlikely to
have a significant negative effect on the economy.
The First Minister rightly alluded to the fact that shop workers
deserve the kind of festive break that the rest of us benefit
from. However, the Government has not enacted legislation that
would do just that for the vast majority of Scottish shop
workers.
What would the First Minister say to retail workers who again
cannot spend new year’s day safely with their families? What are
the Government’s plans to deliver a decent break for shop workers
over the festive period, after they have worked so hard during
the pandemic?
The First
Minister
Like Mark Griffin, I feel strongly about the issue. I set out
clearly why the current law is not sufficient to allow us to
achieve what he is asking for. I encourage retail
employers—particularly large retail employers—to give their staff
appropriate time off. I know that some retailers, such as
Morrisons,
Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Aldi, have already announced
plans to close for an additional day over the festive period.
The current law allows us to restrict trading in certain
premises. It allows us to insist that stores are closed; it does
not allow us to insist that employees get a day off, so stores
could have workers in stocking shelves. Crucially, the law does
not allow us to insist that any day off that workers do get is a
paid day off. It is simply not possible to achieve the outcome.
That is why, as the minister told Parliament, through our retail
strategy, we want to look at how we can get to a situation where
the ends that I think that Mark Griffin and I agree on can be
achieved in a way that benefits workers without inadvertently
penalising them.
I hope that Mark Griffin will accept those points and will work
with us to reach that outcome in the months ahead.
