Easter weekend: What shops can open, and how do surcharges work?

Although Easter is associated with family time and plenty of treats – the rules around what’s open can cause confusion.

Specific rules are in place for the long weekend – which dictate which businesses can and cannot open on certain days.

While no rules are in place for trading on Saturday or Easter Monday, which is a normal public holiday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday do have some special restrictions.

Under the Shop Trading Hours Act 1990, there are three-and-a-half days each year that most businesses must cease trading, they are restricted trading days.

These are Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Christmas Day and Anzac Day until 1pm. All of them, except Easter Sunday, are also public holidays.

Unless a business is an exception to the rules – opening at any time on Good Friday is an offence.

Shops that are allowed to open under certain conditions are dairies, service stations, and cafes. Pharmacies can also open with no special conditions.

Hairdressers can also open, but cannot sell product.

Across the country, most supermarkets will be closed. This however does not include some places which have area exemptions, such as Queenstown.

People who wish to have an alcoholic beverage on Good Friday will need to purchase it ahead of time – as liquor stores are not included in the exemptions.

However, some bars, cafes and restaurants which meet the conditions to open can sell alcohol with a meal.

If a shop were to open without fitting one of the exemption categories, the “occupier” can be fined up to $1000.

Although it is not a public holiday, Easter Sunday is a restricted trading day, meaning it also has certain rules for businesses.

Similar to Good Friday, some shops such as dairies are allowed to open. It is also covered by specific rules which mean shops can choose to open if their local council lets them.

Retail NZ has a list on its website of which districts allow shops to open, and which don’t.

Council districts for the main centres – Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch – do not allow shops to open unless they are exempt.

However, area exemptions do also apply here. For example, Parnell Rd in Auckland is exempt on Easter Sunday from 10am to 6pm – while the rest of the city remains restricted.

In February this year, Labour MP Kieran McAnulty's Member's Bill to allow bars, restaurants, and supermarkets to sell alcohol without these restrictions passed its Second Reading after initially being introduced in February last year.

On March 11, the Committee of the Whole House concluded. This process involves the House considering the Bill in detail, questioning the MP in charge, and potentially making changes.

It is now headed to its Third Reading today and if it passes will then go for Royal Assent and be passed into law.

In the hospitality sector, it is common for businesses to apply a surcharge on public holidays to offset the cost of paying staff time-and-a-half wages on those days.

However, businesses need to be careful not to mislead customers about the reasons for a surcharge, which the Commerce Commission has laid out on its website.

"For example, a business must not claim it is applying a surcharge on Easter Sunday because it is a public holiday. This would be inaccurate because the only public holidays over the Easter weekend are Good Friday and Easter Monday. Saturday and Sunday are not public holidays."

A surcharge put in place must also be clearly disclosed prior to purchasing.

"Consumers should be told about the surcharge, and what it covers, upfront so they can make a decision about whether they are prepared to pay it or buy elsewhere," the website said.