Saturday Work Sparks Legal Showdowns Across Europe
Published on 08/01/2026 at 11:35 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The battle over weekend labor is moving through courtrooms in three countries, with unions, employers, and individual workers all testing the limits of what can legally be demanded of staff on their days off.
Swiss Retailer Under Fire for Holiday Scheduling
Swiss furniture chain Micasa is facing sharp criticism from labor law experts after declining to grant employees time off for the national holiday. Because August 1 falls on a Saturday this year, the company has told staff to simply complete their contracted hours between Monday and Friday instead of receiving any compensation for the holiday itself.
A labor law specialist at the University of Zurich argues the approach is unlawful — at least for workers who would have been scheduled for a Saturday shift. Part-time employees whose contracts explicitly include Saturday work are entitled to proportional holiday pay, the expert contends. Switzerland has treated its national day as equivalent to Sundays under labor law since 1994. Micasa says it is currently reviewing a new working-time model. The economic cost of the public holiday closing is estimated at roughly 1.5 billion Swiss francs annually.
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Union Takes Bavaria to Constitutional Court
Germany's ver.di union filed a constitutional complaint on July 30 against Bavaria's newly enacted shop-closing law. The union argues the legislation strikes at the heart of constitutionally protected Sunday and holiday rest. A separate popular action against the law has been pending in Munich since the start of the year.
The most contentious provisions allow automated supermarkets of up to 150 square meters to operate seven days a week. Tourist destinations may additionally permit as many as 40 Sunday openings per year. Bavaria's ver.di regional leader called the law a "significant attack on the interests of employees." State Labor Minister Ulrike Scharf, by contrast, defends the legislation as a "balanced compromise" between consumer convenience and worker protection.
When Contracted Hours Become a Firing Offense
The weekend question extends beyond holidays. An Italian court recently ruled that a construction worker's dismissal was unlawful after he refused to work Saturdays. His contract specified a 40-hour week covering Monday through Friday — and the employer had no right to unilaterally expand those hours.
Travel time is also emerging as a flashpoint. A September 2015 ruling by the European Court of Justice continues to serve as the benchmark for mobile workers. For employees without a fixed workplace — field sales staff, for instance — journeys between home and the first or last client of the day count as regular working time. That means those hours must be paid. For mobile caregivers and outside sales personnel, the ruling is essential to ensuring their full professional travel time is compensated.
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