THE EMPLOYMENT STRUCTURE OF THE SUNDAY LABOR-MARKET IN RETAILING - A COMPARATIVE-ANALYSIS OF DIY AND GROCERY SUPERSTORES IN SCOTLAND AND INENGLAND AND WALES

Sunday trading in Scotland is an established feature integral to the r etail operations of many companies. This requires that a considerable number of people take up paid employment on Sunday. Illegal Sunday tra ding in England and Wales, particularly since Christmas 1991, has made similar demands on retail staff. In this paper Sunday employment in s uperstores in Scotland with its more established and legal Sunday work ing, is compared with England and Wales, with their more recent and il legal opening pattern. It is concluded that a number of differences do exist, particularly in grocery superstores. Key findings include the high number of Sunday-only workers and a lower proportion of workers o n premium rates in Scotland. When Sunday trading is legalised and esta blished in England and Wales it would be expected that the employment pattern would come to mirror more closely the Scottish situation. Thes e findings are discussed in the context of employment change and spati al-legal debates.