Since the introduction of the Sunday shopping ban, the government has consistently reduced the number of Sundays on which stores can be open each year. In 2022, there are only seven.
Two out of seven shopping Sundays in 2022 are scheduled for April. One of them falls a week before Easter, on Palm Sunday, which is April 10. The second is the week after Easter, on April 24.
Here is a complete list of Sundays when stores and malls may be open:
- January 30;
- April 10;
- April 24;
- June 26;
- August 28;
- December 11;
- December 18.
Exception related to the war in Ukraine
Due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the massive influx of refugees crossing Poland’s eastern border, the government has announced that it will refrain from inspections and fines for opening stores on Sundays in border areas. The reason is an opportunity to help Ukrainians fleeing the war.
The state labor inspectorate (PIP) will not fine those stores that will be open on Sundays to help refugees,” said Peter Muller of the Prime Minister’s Office. He stressed that the stores in question are mainly located in the Podkarpackie and Lubelskie voivodeships bordering Ukraine.
Where can I shop every Sunday?
The ban on shopping on Sundays is stipulated by the “Law of January 10, 2018 on restricting trade on Sundays and holidays and on some other days,” which came into force on March 1, 2018. It provides several exceptions for stores that can operate on non-trade Sundays:
– pharmacies and drugstores,
– retail outlets whose primary business is selling newspapers, public transportation tickets, tobacco products, and gambling and betting coupons,
– retail outlets in hotel complexes,
– retail outlets in railway stations,
– retail outlets where the trade is carried out by an entrepreneur who is a natural person, solely on his own behalf and at his own expense,
– outlets where the main activity is trade in bakery and confectionery products,
– retail establishments with catering as their main activity,
– post offices, in which postal activities prevail (turnover of more than 40%).
Violation of the ban on Sunday trading may be punishable by a fine of 1,000 to 100,000 zlotys.
