Closed shops, open questions

Experts of law firm Réti, Antall and Co. PwC Legal collected the most important information in connection with the mandatory store-closing on Sundays.

Act 102 of 2014 has already entered into force but the legislation process isn’t over yet. Unfortunately retailers have a hard time adapting to the new regulations because of the law’s ambiguous nature. Dr Judit Firniksz, lawyer and legal expert of Réti, Antall and Co. PwC Legal explained that from a legal perspective the law is contradictory in many places and it isn’t in harmony with the Trade Act (Act 164 of 2005). Consequently, several interpretations of the text are possible and this may affect controlling practices as well. The new law limits the opening hours of stores on Sundays but doesn’t ban working in the retail sector on Sundays. But retail activity isn’t exclusively performed in shops – it can also be done from trucks, at fairs and marketplaces, etc. At the moment it isn’t clear how the law intends to regulate these, especially in the case of e-commerce and out-of-store selling. The ambiguity of the law isn’t the only problem, for instance it is a big question if there is a control visit by the authorities, how can a store prove that it has the right to be open on Sundays? Since stores are closed on Sundays, the scheduling of work hours changed in the retail sector: employees have to work longer hours on weekdays and on Saturdays. Dr. Szűcs László, lawyer and legal expert of Réti, Antall and Co. PwC Legal told our magazine that this also has an influence on the wages of those working in the retail sector. Most probably they will earn less than when they had to work on Sundays. Having to stay closed on Sundays may also affect store lease contracts, because conditions were different when the contract was signed – stores could calculate with a higher revenue as trading was allowed seven days a week instead of just six, and the rental fee was calculated accordingly. Dr István Illés, lawyer and legal expert of Réti, Antall and Co. PwC Legal opines that the big question is: does the loss in sales revenue form part of the retailer’s regular risk? It must also be examined whether this loss is big enough to constitute considerable harm to the retailer’s interests. These questions are especially important in the light of the fact that most lease contracts specify a fixed amount as the rental fee, irrespective of the retailer’s sales revenue.