[Updated] Baby Step: Shops can now open all afternoons and on Sundays!

open-sign-simpleIn a country where we’re so used to bad decisions being made by those in power… This comes as a breathe of fresh air…

It appears someone is actually thinking along the logical lines that… follow me through here, it could get complicated… if shops can trade more, they can hire more, unemployment goes down. Boom!

The Cyprus Daily reports:

In a bid to beat the economic crisis all shops will be able to open for longer according to a decree issued by Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou.
According to an announcement by the Labour Ministry, shops can now stay open from 5am until 10pm from Monday to Saturday (including Wednesday) and from 9am until 9pm on Sundays.

Emilianidou yesterday told reporters the longer shop opening hours will be implemented across Cyprus as from Friday.

Obviously this extension is voluntary, and allows shop owners to respond to their local market in a more logical manner.

Oh, and we can finally go shopping when we don’t have to be at work!

Update: It appears the story was pulled from the Cyprus Daily website and replaced with this one:

Labour and industrial groups have condemned the state’s decision to allow all Cyprus’ shops to stay open Monday to Sunday from 5am-10pm and on Sundays from 9am-9pm.

Left-wing Peo said the state was bringing in shop hour liberalization through the back door and accused the Labour Ministry of by-passing the legal criteria of what constitutes a tourism area.

While introduced as an effort to help the crisis-hit economy through making shops more accessible and encouraging the employment of more people.
Starting this Friday, the new hours will stay in place until October 13.

Cyprus Federation of Professional Craftsmen and Shopkeepers Povek said that the Labour Ministry had pushed through the new hours “with the same zeal it failed to display on the issue of rent reductions.”

The association said that only large department stores would benefit and that it would be meeting with its members to decided on how to proceed.

*facepalm* – guess our logical deduction that more hours + limited hours per worker = more jobs is too logical for this situation.