Christmas Day and New Year's Day Trading (Scotland) Bill

# Christmas Day and New Year's Day Trading (Scotland) Bill Scottish retail workers have historically enjoyed statutory protection preventing shops from opening on Christmas Day and New Year's Day, allowing them guaranteed time off during major holidays. However, the existing legislation had become outdated and contained loopholes that permitted some retailers to trade during these periods, creating inconsistency in worker protections and competitive disadvantage for businesses that complied with the restrictions. This member's bill sought to modernise and strengthen the legal framework governing trading on these two key holidays, ensuring consistent application across Scotland's retail sector while protecting employees' rights to time with family and communities during festive periods. The bill proposed to introduce clearer, more comprehensive restrictions on retail trading on Christmas Day and New Year's Day, closing legal gaps that had allowed certain exceptions and partial trading. Key provisions included defining which types of retail premises would be prohibited from opening and establishing penalties for non-compliance. The legislation aimed to create enforceable standards that would apply uniformly across all retailers, removing the competitive disadvantages faced by compliant businesses and strengthening protections for workers. As a member's bill introduced in the Scottish Parliament, it represented a backbench initiative to address perceived weaknesses in existing holiday trading protections rather than government-led legislative reform.

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