MWith a far-reaching decision on the shop opening law, the Hessian Administrative Court has fueled the debate about the ban on sales on Sundays. The administrative court announced on Thursday that the ban also applies to sales outlets without staff in Hesse. The decision, which according to the announcement was made on December 22nd, relates to a legal dispute over the so-called Teo sales outlets of the Tegut supermarket chain.
However, the court's findings are of a fundamental nature. While the new state government in Hesse would like to enable fully automated sales areas to be opened on Sundays and public holidays in the future, the Verdi union rejects liberalization.
The Teo markets in Tegut are small self-service shops without staff, to which customers have access 24 hours a day after digital control and can shop under camera surveillance. According to Tegut, there are 39 Teos. 28 of them are in Hesse, the rest in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. So far, all of them are also open on Sundays.
City lawsuit
The city of Fulda, where Tegut is based, had already ordered Teo sales points to close on Sundays and public holidays in October 2021. After the Kassel Administrative Court, the Hessian Administrative Court now also ruled in favor of the city administration.
According to the Hessian Shop Opening Act, sales outlets “must be closed for business dealings with customers on Sundays and public holidays, among other things,” said the Administrative Court. At these times, according to the text of the law, “the display of goods for sale to anyone” is prohibited. The Administrative Court argued that personal contact with a seller was not important.
It is true that “if the use of sales staff is dispensed with, the objective of employee protection underlying the shop closing law is achieved”. However, the shop opening law also serves to protect Sundays and public holidays as days of “spiritual elevation”.
Company threatens to close the market
A Tegut spokesman said that after the ruling, the company would have to “put all existing Teo locations in Hesse up for discussion”. The spokesman explained that the Hessian locations will be checked to see what closures on Sundays and public holidays mean for sales. The Teo markets at the train stations in Groß-Umstadt and Hanau are probably not affected because other shops in train stations are also allowed to open on Sundays.
In Bavaria, the authorities have found solutions to enable operations on Sundays, the spokesman said. Tegut is now hoping for a change in the law by the new Hesse state government.
The coalition agreement between the CDU and SPD states that they want to enable “Sunday opening for fully automated sales areas that do not require the use of staff on Sundays”. There are already exceptions to the Sunday sales ban, for example for gas stations, flower shops, bakeries and kiosks.
The Hessian Trade Association advocates opening staffless markets, which it also calls “walk-in vending machines”, on Sundays and public holidays. This is the only way this offer can be operated profitably, according to a statement from the association. It is important for retailers to “gain experience in dealing with these autonomous sales systems”.
This is exactly what worries the service union Verdi. Concepts like Teo are used to test technologies that are likely to be increasingly used in larger stores, said Marcel Schäuble, Verdi regional regional manager for retail. “If this is used on a large scale, it cannot be done without staff, for example for refilling the shelves.” Verdi fears that as a result of automated sales areas opening on Sundays, there will be a “creeping erosion of Sunday protection”.
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