Shops can open on Sundays after May 19 and in June

To accelerate the way out of the crisis, businesses may well, according to our information, open on Sundays after May 19 and in June.

In a letter sent this Monday, May 10, to the prefects, and which we were able to consult, the Minister of Labor, Élisabeth Borne, asked them to grant “exceptional exemptions

according to the requests of local actors”.

For the government, it is "to allow businesses to make up for the drop in turnover suffered due to the epidemic context but also to smooth the flow of customers as much as possible over the whole week, in view of the need to limit the number of customers likely to be accommodated simultaneously in these establishments. "

This new measure comes after the request of the professional federations to be able to open seven days a week from Wednesday, May 19, date of the start of the second phase of deconfinement.

For Jacques Creyssel, president of the Federation of Commerce and Distribution (FDC) and of the Medef Economic Commission, this is, unsurprisingly, "good news", even if he would have liked to obtain exemptions earlier and until the end of the sales (

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"Employees do not have to bear the brunt of the situation"

But with this new measure, what about the compensation of mobilized employees? "The companies concerned must respect the rights of their employees, whether in terms of salary compensation that must be granted to them or respect for the principle of voluntary service," recalls the Ministry of Labor in its letter to the prefects.

On the side of the unions, requested last Friday by the government, the reactions are very mixed in the face of this new relaxation of the rules governing Sunday work. Contacted, Yves Veyrier, the boss of FO, insists that he is "not in favor of opening additional exemptions on Sunday" and recalls that the already existing provisions "allow to open up to four Sundays before the Christmas holidays, and even open up to twelve Sundays a year at the local level ”. For the trade unionist, "the employees do not have to bear the brunt of the situation and the right to Sunday rest remains a major demand of FO". Same story at the CFTC. “You still have to come and show me that the Sunday opening increases turnover, chokes its president, Cyril Chabanier.While there is a loosening of the health situation, we must leave this day to families who have sometimes not seen each other for nearly a year. "

On the side of the CFDT, the answer to these “exceptional exemptions” is “yes”, but with conditions: “We fully understand that there is a need for flexibility for sectors that have been shut down for a long time, and there is a need for flexibility. There is undoubtedly every interest for some employees to work on Sundays, but we have two imperatives: no a posteriori consultations and real compensation for the employees ”, pleads Catherine Pinchaut, the national secretary of the union.