Even shop robots should have Sundays off, German court rules as it says ... trends now
Robots working long hours in supermarkets are just as entitled to a day of rest as their human counterparts, a German court has ruled, upholding a centuries-old ban on Sunday commerce.
Tegut, a regional chain now experimenting with some 40 fully-automated stores, has been embroiled in a legal battle since service sector union Verdi argued allowing the shops to stay open could have 'knock-on effects' for human workers.
The highest administrative court in the state of Hesse agreed that the innovative new stores, in operation for the last four years, should be made to close on Sundays, citing a 1,700-year-old Christian principle of 'Sunday rest' enshrined in the constitution since 1919.
Thomas Stäb, a board member of Tegut, told the Financial Times the ruling was 'entirely grotesque', arguing that the stores were 'basically walk-in vending machines'. He said Sundays accounted for some 25-30 per cent of the automated stores' weekly trade.
The Verdi union contested that the success of such shops could see rivals pushing for further relaxation of Sunday trading rules, however, arguing workers need the guaranteed day off to spend time with loved ones.
There are some 40 of the innovative automated stores currently in operation
Customers check in with their ID and are free to roam the store, paying at self-checkouts
Tegut, a Swiss-owned supermarket based in Fulda, operates some 300 conventional stores nationwide, and has sought innovative means of expansion with its 40 'teos'.
The 'teos', named in tribute to the chain's late founder, Theo Gutberlet, operate much like normal stores, allowing customers to peruse and pay by self-checkout after dropping off their ID at the entrance.
Stäb said they recorded higher rates of shoplifting without human security, but the profits outweighed the losses.
Teos provided the brand with a way around Germany's strict
