Sunday working loophole closes

Argos sacked workers for refusing to work on Sundays

New legislation giving shop workers in Scotland the same rights to refuse to work on Sundays as other staff across the UK will be in force by next April.

The Sunday Working Bill has become the Sunday Working (Scotland) Act after receiving Royal Assent.

It will close a loophole which allowed retail chain Argos to sack workers in Aberdeen for refusing to work on Sundays.

From April 2004, workers in Scotland will no longer be forced working on the traditional "day of rest".

The bill was first introduced by David Cairns MP in November 2002 after the Argos case highlighted the difference between the law in Scotland and the rest of the UK.

The firm eventually reversed its position and offered the women their jobs back after talks with Scottish Secretary Helen Liddell late last year.

Shopworkers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland currently have to give their consent for Sunday working - a protection introduced after Sunday trading rules were relaxed in 1994.

But, because there had never been a ban on shops opening seven days a week north of the border, the new employment rights had not been extended to Scotland until now.

'Effective protection'

Anne McGuire, Scotland Office minister, described the new act as "a step forward for workers' rights".

She added: "The act strikes the right balance between the need for effective protections to eliminate the risk of imposing unnecessary regulatory burdens on business.

"The legislation will take its own place in the raft of measures being pusued by the UK Government to help promote family friendly policies and improve a balance between work and life."