# Laws against working on the Sabbath? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 31, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918 "2026-03-31T18:06:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/61 "2026-04-02T02:35:59Z")
The Sunday Observance Act of 1677 made it illegal to do any work on Sundays in England. This built on a 1625 law, and was further modified over the centuries. _An Act for the better Observation of the Lords day commonly called Sunday._ > **[Sunday Observance Act 1677](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/Cha2/29/7/enacted)** It wasn’t fully repealed until a few decades ago. I find it fabulous that punishment included a few hours in the stocks. The Lords Day Observance Society made it their business to pursue every possible law or regulation to have Sunday activities stopped. They even investigated whether they could ban television on Sundays. Looking into this turned up [a fascinating parliamentary interchange](https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1953/jan/30/sunday-observance-bill#column_1335) discussing more of this from 1953 as parliament discussed abolishing the remainder of the act. Lengthy, but a reminder of how government once ran. Polite and educated. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/62 "2026-04-02T17:00:53Z")
When I was in Germany a few years back, no trucks were allowed on highways/Autobahns on Sundays. There were exceptions for trucks carrying perishables. Is this still the law? ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/63 "2026-04-02T17:33:10Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > I don’t think there were laws in the UK against _working_ on a Sunday, rather general agreement between employers and unions, but even now there are still some legal restrictions on shop opening hours. It took a long campaign until the 1980s to get even that far, and there’s still tinkering with the rules In England and Wales Sunday hours are restricted, Scotland actually has no such rules, as I was surprised to discover moving up here. Alcohol sales are limited to certain hours, but Sundays are the same as every other day. The 24 hour supermarket down the road from me where I now live is open all night every night, including Easter weekend and I think even Christmas. My old local (which stopped being 24 hrs after Covid) would open at midnight on the day after Easter Monday, having been closed most of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/64 "2026-04-02T17:51:30Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > When I was in Germany a few years back, no trucks were allowed on highways/Autobahns on Sundays. There were exceptions for trucks carrying perishables. Is this still the law? Yes, and there is wide support for it as the autobahns are congested with truck traffic during the working week (a significant portion of it transiting Germany) and the driving public prefer uncongested roads for recreational trips on Sundays. Most neighbouring countries have similar rules, most strict in Austria and Switzerland. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/65 "2026-04-02T18:29:22Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Not exactly what you’re looking for, but some areas still have “blue laws” prohibiting some commercial activities on Sunday. Bergen County, NJ is one rather well known one - a huge mall there is basically shuttered on Sunday. > > There are exceptions. Grocery stores. News stands / places that sell newspapers and magazines. My husband likes to quip that you can’t buy a Bible on Sunday but you CAN buy Playboy. I never lived in Bergen County. Blue laws in most of the state went away a long time ago. I do remember as a child that most stores were closed. One of the exceptions were hardware stores, but they were limited as to what they could sell. I remember going with my father to the late lamented Builders Emporium. There were a large areas of the store and also individual pallets that were roped off. They contained the items that they weren’t allowed to sell. I was just a child, but I still thought it was very bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/66 "2026-04-02T18:32:46Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > > [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > > > When I was in Germany a few years back, no trucks were allowed on highways/Autobahns on Sundays. There were exceptions for trucks carrying perishables. Is this still the law? > > Yes, and there is wide support for it as the autobahns are congested with truck traffic during the working week (a significant portion of it transiting Germany) and the driving public prefer uncongested roads for recreational trips on Sundays. Most neighbouring countries have similar rules, most strict in Austria and Switzerland. When I was stationed in Germany many moons ago, store hours were not conducive to two income families. It was certainly more convenient if you didn’t have to work all day. Stores were only open after 5 or 6 on Thursday nights. They were only open half day Saturday except for one Saturday out of the month, which was called long Saturday. I don’t know if it’s still like that. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/67 "2026-04-02T20:05:27Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > They were only open half day Saturday except for one Saturday out of the month, which was called long Saturday. I don’t know if it’s still like that. No, that’s mostly gone, stores can open as long as they want on Saturdays, though many smaller shops, especially in smaller towns, voluntarily close earlier (mostly around 2 PM) on Saturdays. The general ban for opening stores on Sundays still stands though, although there can be many exceptions made locally for special events when the stores in a certain town or city can be opened. ETA: and liked mentioned before, the closing of shops on Sundays is common interest of the Churches and the trade workers’ unions, so these laws have strong support. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/68 "2026-04-02T20:09:38Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > They were only open half day Saturday except for one Saturday out of the month, which was called long Saturday. I don’t know if it’s still like that. > > No, that’s mostly gone, stores can open as long as they want on Saturdays, though many smaller shops, especially in smaller towns, voluntarily close earlier (mostly around 2 PM) on Saturdays. I remember long saturdays being a mad house in the city. Since I lived in the barracks I didn’t have much shopping that I had to do anyway. It didn’t really affect me. It meant a lot to those who were there with families and lived on the economy. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/69 "2026-04-02T20:13:53Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I remember long saturdays being a mad house in the city. Since I lived in the barracks I didn’t have much shopping that I had to do anyway. It didn’t really affect me. It meant a lot to those who were there with families and lived on the economy. There also was a long Thursday (late 90s?), when stores could be open until 8 PM instead of closing at 6 PM. It was known as “Scheilado”, “Scheiß langer Donnerstag”. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/70 "2026-04-02T20:27:25Z")
Btw., there’s also the tradition of “Stille Feiertage”, “quiet holidays”, in Germany. Those are holidays that are meant to be held in a solemn manner, so for instance any public dance events are forbidden (discotheques and dance cafés must be closed). An example is tomorrow’s Good Friday, which starts in 1.5 h here. There’s even a bizarre list of movies that cannot be publicly shown in cinemas on these days, including “The Life Of Brian”. Of course there are loopholes, that’s why many atheist/humanist/student groups organize big private showings of the film at every Good Friday, so it’s watched by many more people than if it wasn’t banned for that day. It’s a bit bizarre, especially given that the majority of Germans (50%+) now identify as non-religious. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/71 "2026-04-02T21:35:26Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Illinois is among the U.S. states which has a law prohibiting auto dealers from operating/opening on Sundays. This apparently had its genesis in blue laws, but it’s a relatively recent law in Illinois (only created in 1984), and it’s mostly because the auto dealers lobbied for it as a way to give employees a day off, while ensuring that their competitors would not be able to steal business by opening on the same day. I‘ve seen a number of places in Canada where dealerships are closed on Sundays. Not sure if it’s a law, more likely it’s simply good sense - people don’t buy more cars because they can shop on Sunday, and they buy cars when they need them, so anyone opening Sunday just starts a race to the bottom, where labour costs go up for everyone but sales volume doesn’t. Some dealerships you can drive through on Sundays, some are chained off but you can walk around and look in the windows. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/72 "2026-04-02T21:59:59Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > When I was stationed in Germany many moons ago, store hours were not conducive to two income families. It was certainly more convenient if you didn’t have to work all day. I wonder what shopping hours were like in East Germany where dual income families where the norm and churches had much less influence. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/73 "2026-04-03T06:52:27Z")
Not so much to buy in East Germany anyway ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/74 "2026-04-03T07:09:48Z")
I can’t answer your question about shopping hours in East Germany specifically (because I grew up in the West), but I’d like to point out that mandatory Sunday closing hours in German law are not just a church thing; the political influence of the churches is eroding. The blue laws are also supported from the left (at least the traditional union left), who are worried that allowing stores to open on Sundays would give employers too much leeway to push employees into different working time arrangement. Like so many things in Germany that badly need reform, this is one that is completely deadlocked; case law says that Sunday closing is mandated by the constitution, so you’d have to amend the constitution to get rid of it, which is, of course, not going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/75 "2026-04-03T11:36:09Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Not so much to buy in East Germany anyway I don’t know; I knew this guy from an industrial city in the Soviet Union who delighted his daughter by getting her a fancy East German doll for her birthday! Stalin actually did away with weekends (and seven-day weeks, for that matter) but, for whatever reason, it did not stick. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/76 "2026-04-03T11:48:33Z")
Looked it up; standard shop opening hours in East Germany were similar as in West Germany: Into the early evening (~6pm) on weekdays (Monday through Friday), often with a long noon break; half a day (until ~1pm) on Saturdays; no “extended Thursday” rule (that was West German); closed on Sundays. Note that mandatory closing on Sundays has a long history in Germany (definitely predates 1949, most likely even predates the Nazi era), so it wouldn’t have taken any particularly pro-religious stance to keep stores closed on Sundays. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/77 "2026-04-03T12:45:50Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > I remember long saturdays being a mad house in the city. Since I lived in the barracks I didn’t have much shopping that I had to do anyway. It didn’t really affect me. It meant a lot to those who were there with families and lived on the economy. > > There also was a long Thursday (late 90s?), when stores could be open until 8 PM instead of closing at 6 PM. It was known as “Scheilado”, “Scheiß langer Donnerstag”. I mentioned the later Thursday hours. I was there during the time of the reunification. I also remember the silent holidays. I went to my usual club and instead of their usual music they were playing jazz that couldn’t be danced to. Not many people were there. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/78 "2026-04-03T16:57:42Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I went to my usual club and instead of their usual music they were playing jazz that couldn’t be danced to You can dance to any music, even if it smells funny. 😉 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/x10z5BuZ1_M/maxresdefault.jpg "Be-Bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzmen's Church) (Live At The Roxy, Hollywood/1973)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x10z5BuZ1_M) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/79 "2026-04-03T17:11:15Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > I went to my usual club and instead of their usual music they were playing jazz that couldn’t be danced to > > You can dance to any music, even if it smells funny. 😉 > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x10z5BuZ1\_M&1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x10z5BuZ1_M&1) It was also played at a very low volume. Not following the rules was not an option. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918/80 "2026-04-03T17:13:03Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Not following the rules was not an option. Which sums up the German psyche quite nicely… 😆 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-against-working-on-the-sabbath/1028918.md?page=5)