During the Budget, chancellor George Osborne announced the suspension of trading laws on eight Sundays during the Olympic Games in a bid to improve the sales for small shops, pubs and restaurants.
While small hospitality and retail business owners are likely to benefit from an extension of their opening hours, the majority of their employees are not so happy.
The shop workers' union Usdaw has today (April 17th) revealed the results of a survey conducted among 20,000 of its members following the Budget announcement.
It found that 77 per cent of staff working in the retail or hospitality industries oppose the suspension of trading laws on Sundays.
Just 12 per cent were in favour of the relaxation of trading hours.
The main reasons behind this opposition is that 48 per cent of shop workers already feel pressure to work on Sundays, while 72 per cent feel they would face added demands to work on this day when opening hours are extended.
Usdaw has now written to parliament detailing why it believes the relaxation of trading laws on Sundays is a bad idea and has urged MPs to oppose the bill when it comes into parliament later this month.
John Hannett, general secretary of Usdaw, said: "The bill is ill-thought through, rushed and desperately lacking a proper regulatory impact assessment.
"There is no evidence that extending Sunday opening hours will boost the economy or tourism and there has been little meaningful consultation with employers, employees and others."
He added that shop workers do not want to lose the one day a week they get to spend some quality time with their families.
Another event that has caused controversy among small business owners and their staff is the Diamond Jubilee Weekend, which runs from June 2nd to June 5th due to two bank holidays.
Staff are entitled to extra pay or to take a day in lieu if their boss needs them to work, which may be true for pubs and restaurants.
However, the Trade Union Congress recently raised its concerns that firms that do not give their staff an incentive to work on the bank holidays will create ill-will and annoyance, denting morale in the workplace.
