SHOPPING HOURS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 125, 23 November 1944, Page 6

SHOPPING HOURS

END-OF-YEAR HOLIDAYS

The Christmas and New Year holidays will present no particular difficulties m the matter of shopping hours, as the usual shopping hours will be observed during the weekend precedg f^ch holiday, said the secretary of ,™ Wellington Employers' Association (Mr. W. J. Mountjoy) today. The observance of Boxing Day and the holiday following New Year's Day will mean a long weekend. The position briefly is that food shops, such as butchers' and grocers' shops, will observe the late night on Friday as usual. They will open on the Saturday mornings, December 23 and December 30, until 12 o'clock, as in the case of an ordinary week. A close holiday ,will be observed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and on New Year's Day and the following day. All other shops will observe the usual late night on the Friday nights and the majority of shops 'will be open lor business on both Saturday morn-

Fruiterers, confectioners and dairies tearooms, and restaurants are permitJh?t nuk^ p op?? as usual > excepting that Christmas Day is deemed for all purposes of the law to be a Sunday and the usual Sunday conditions will therefore apply. This being the first year of the operation of the Annual Holidays Act, im% many factory occumers are endeavouring to close down during the iestive season for the annual holiday period. While this presents difficulty to some industries, it is expected that a large number of employers will decide to close their premises for the fortnight and allow their workers the holiday required under the Annual Hobdays Act. Similar action is expected to be taken by some commercial houses, but owing to the difficulties of administration of the Act no universal policy pan be adopted.