Sunday working clause

If you require a shop worker to work on Sundays, insert our clause into their employment contract.

Opting out of Sunday working

As with most other employees, subject to not breaching working time rules, you can contractually require a new recruit who is a shop worker to work on Sundays. However, unlike other employees, they have a statutory right to opt out of Sunday working under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (unless they’re employed to work only on Sundays). To do this, they must give you a signed and dated written notice stating that they object to Sunday working (an opting-out notice). This notice will then take effect after three months, meaning that you can still require them to work on Sundays under the terms of their employment contract until this three-month notice period has expired. Once this three-month period comes to an end though, the employee can refuse to work Sundays and you must not dismiss them or subject them to any detrimental treatment because of their refusal or because they’ve given you an opting-out notice. So, if you do require a new shop worker to work on Sundays unless they object, insert our Sunday Working Clause into their employment contract. It sets out their contractual obligation to work on Sundays, how they would need to object to Sunday working and the fact that any opting-out notice served wouldn’t be effective for three months. In their employment contract, you can be more explicit about their normal hours of work, including working days and times and details of any breaks, in their hours of work clause. Note that a “shop” for these purposes includes any premises where any retail trade or business is carried on, including hairdressers, barbers, auction houses and hire companies (except those that hire only to trades or businesses). It doesn’t include catering businesses or the sale of programmes or similar items in theatres or places of amusement. A shop worker also only does shop work if it’s a day on which the shop where they work is open for the serving of customers.

Statement of rights

Where a shop worker has the right to opt out of Sunday working, you must give them a written statement in a prescribed form explaining the steps they must follow to serve an opting-out notice – see our Sunday Trading Statutory Rights Statement. This statement must be given within two months of the individual becoming entitled to opt out. If you fail to provide it either at all or within the stipulated timeframe, then the period between the shop worker serving an opting-out notice and it taking effect is reduced from three months to one month.

Protected shop workers

Shop workers who started their employment with you before 26 August 1994 have the right not to work on Sundays unless either they were employed to work only on Sundays, or they’ve subsequently given you a signed and dated written opting-in notice expressly stating that they wish to work on Sundays or don’t object to Sunday working, and then they’ve agreed with you to do shop work on Sundays or on a particular Sunday.