Working hours

At the turn of the century shop staff worked very long weeks, commonly between 80 and 100 hours. A typical working day at Sainsbury’s began at 7.30am with a uniform inspection. Trading ended at 9.15pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and at 10.45pm on Fridays.

Saturday was the busiest day of the week – many people were paid on a Saturday evening, so shops stayed open into the early hours of Sunday morning. People would enter the shops still drinking from the tankards that they carried from the pubs. Former employee H F Jones recalled:

'We used to clear up the tankards and take them back after we'd closed.'

Although the shutters were pulled down before midnight, trading continued as long as there were customers to serve. As the last customer left, the shop would be scrubbed down from top to bottom ready for Monday morning.

The Shops Act of 1950 greatly reduced trading – and working – hours. Sunday trading was prohibited and only one late opening was permitted each week, until 9pm. Part-time opportunities increased following the introduction of self-service stores. By 1968 over 11,000 of Sainsbury’s 28,000 employees were part-time.

The 5 day trading and working week was introduced in 1961, with shops opening Tuesday – Saturday, but by 1981 all stores opened Monday – Saturday. The 1994 Sunday Trading Act saw a return to 7 day opening and from June 1997, some larger stores experimented with 24 hour opening.