If I were to be rude, I would somewhat maliciously comment on the news that the company Pan-pek has found a way to circumvent the provision of the Trade Act that prohibits merchants from working on Sundays. However, I will not be rude, but I will not hide my joy that some company has found a way to outsmart the Government’s ban on Sunday work for merchants because, I repeat for the thousandth time, this ban is simply unnecessary and, moreover, very discriminatory. Indeed, Pan-pek has not completely avoided the Sunday work ban. Its bakeries operated this Sunday, although the company itself decided that for the bakery as a store, this Sunday is a non-working day. But for the bakery as a hospitality facility, it is not. Therefore, in these bakeries, customers could not buy bread, but they could buy burek, sandwiches, pizzas, and pastries, as well as coffee and other beverages that can be consumed immediately, just like in any hospitality facility, which, unlike merchants, is not prohibited from working on Sundays.
Pan-pek has actually utilized one fact, which is that since its inception, it has dual registration, meaning it is registered for both trade and hospitality activities. More precisely, its stores, each on its own, have been registered as such since the beginning of their operation, from the oldest one 27 years ago to the youngest one three years ago, long before the last amendments to the Trade Act that regulate Sunday work.
‘Family Sunday Sandwich’
Thus, these stores that are also registered as hospitality establishments offer food and drinks that can be consumed immediately, which, according to a statement from the company sent to the media, constitutes 65 percent of the total product offer. So, it is not that they have completely nullified the effect of the Sunday work ban, but given this circumstance, it can be said that this is a good success. Along with the declaration of market days on Sundays, for which local government units have the authority, this is yet another example of effectively circumventing the law while still remaining within the legal framework.
There is no doubt that other companies in the industry will follow Pan-pek’s example, of course, those who have registered their bakeries as hospitality establishments in addition to being registered as stores. As far as I know, other bakeries, at least the larger ones, also offer other items that can be consumed immediately in addition to bread, so I assume they are also registered as hospitality establishments. But we should not stop there; we should give space to imagination and introduce other products that customers could buy. For example, why shouldn’t a bakery introduce a ‘family Sunday sandwich’ into its assortment? I come to this idea based on personal experience. When I was a young man, I worked in construction as a student. It is a job that exhausts you, you get hungry, and at those moments, nothing is more pleasant than the smell of salami in fresh bread. I would always buy half a loaf of bread, which the lady in the store would then cut in half and put salami in it. Everyone was surprised at how much I could eat, but unlike them, I worked hard in my job, so I spent a lot of energy.
