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HUP Calls for Amendments to the Sunday Work Law and End to Price Freezing

Image by: foto Ratko Mavar

In order to ensure the sustainability of all economic entities in the changed business conditions of recent years (disruptions in supply chains, inflation, rising cost of living), it is essential to conduct a professional and careful review of the Sunday Work Law and to allow entrepreneurs to make independent decisions about working on Sundays with adequate employee compensation, as well as to strengthen the capacity of institutions and inspection services in enforcing the provisions of the Law, according to HUP.

In an economy where consumers are enjoying record income growth and exude optimism, HUP advocates for the removal of administrative price restrictions, considering that the model of price list publication itself strengthens competition among retailers, and indirectly among suppliers, while medium-term inflation forecasts indicate a decline and stabilization.

– We remind that this year the real growth of retail trade is slowing down, and for the past two years, we have witnessed a real decline in tourism revenue, which are indicators pointing to stabilization and a certain reduction in demand inflation. Additional administrative freezing along with further administration of price lists also disproportionately affects the operations of small stores, whose business has already been disrupted after the ban on Sunday work – states the latest HUP Focus of the Week.

For retailers with a wide range of products for consumer choice, this may require additional resources (e.g., updating prices on shelves, in accounting systems, or even on online platforms), which again disproportionately burdens smaller retailers. According to the latest calculations based on available data from Eurostat, the gross margins of domestic retailers are two to three percentage points lower than the EU average, which should not create motivation for the state to regulate prices in retail, concludes HUP.