An individual agreement is not sufficient. As of July 22, 2026, retail businesses in general may only schedule employees to work on holidays if there is express authorization in a collective bargaining agreement.
When drawing up work schedules, companies must not only verify compliance with municipal laws governing business operations but also check whether there is a valid normative clause in their collective bargaining agreement that expressly authorizes work on holidays within their territorial jurisdiction and what compensation is required for such work. Supermarkets, retail stores, shopping malls, and wholesalers are not included in the list of activities with permanent authorization and, therefore, depend on such a regulatory clause.
In general, regulatory authorization to operate on holidays is usually accompanied by conditions, such as specific pay, overtime compensation, and other rights provided for in the collective bargaining agreement itself; it is necessary to verify whether there are limits on the number of holidays worked, rules regarding staff call-ins, and advance notice requirements for shift schedules. Opening a store without complying with the conditions of these clauses is, in practice, equivalent to operating without authorization, carrying the risk of fines and labor liabilities.
Points to Consider for Chains with Multiple Locations:
1.Pharmacies and other specific businesses retain permanent authorization to operate on holidays, but the rest of the chain’s operations may not have this exemption.
2. Each union branch may have a distinct collective bargaining agreement, with different rules and compensation rates. Reviewing agreements on a per-unit basis prevents applying a single standard to diverse regulatory contexts.
3. Where there is no union representing the relevant occupational categories, the collective bargaining agreement must be negotiated through the Federations or, in their absence, the Confederations representing the category.
There is no longer any uncertainty: collective bargaining is the rule for authorizing work on holidays. And since the year-end season is marked by a concentration of holidays and peak periods of activity, this is when reviewing the relevant agreements carries the most weight. Mapping out the applicable collective bargaining agreements, the terms of each clause, and the planned work schedules before critical dates allows employers to proceed with legal certainty or adjust the schedule in a timely manner, rather than having to correct a work schedule after it has already been implemented.
