![Ce lundi matin, le ministre des Petites et moyennes entreprises, du Commerce, de l’Artisanat, du Tourisme et du Pouvoir d’achat, Serge Papin, a fait une annonce qui devrait en soulager plus d’un. [Xose Bouzas / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP]](/cdn-cgi/image/onerror=redirect,width=640,height=640,format=webp/https://storage.googleapis.com/uploads.mongoosehq.com/url/media/195518056/7071ac4187b1daebfe670b170a3e746d99066c334efd70235d2f50d06716e7c8)
Overview
- The government announced on Monday that Serge Papin will send a ministerial instruction this week asking prefects to permit three additional Sunday openings before Christmas.
- The written instruction, signed by Papin and other ministers, reminds prefects they may grant the extra Sundays without consulting social partners and targets departments where protest activity disrupted commerce.
- A support fund will be made available to affected shops with payments up to €10,000 for the hardest-hit businesses and will cover the weekends when demonstrations occurred.
- Officials noted mayors already have powers to authorise up to 12 Sunday openings and said any decision to go beyond three extra Sundays will require consultations with unions and employer groups and be taken department by department.
- Business groups welcomed the move as a way to recoup steep Saturday losses from October mobilisations while unions including the CGT oppose extra Sunday work on grounds it would increase burdens on largely female retail staff and call for stronger worker protections or compensation.