Shop opening hours; application for a temporary individual exception

As a rule, the district administrative authorities and municipalities are the points of contact for enforcing the Bavarian law on shop closing times.

Principle

In Bavaria, the Bavarian Shop Closing Act (BayLadSchlG) regulates when sales outlets must close. As a rule, sales outlets may be open from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm on weekdays. Bakeries may open as early as 5.30 am. Shops are generally not allowed to open all day on Sundays and public holidays.

Legal exceptions

There are numerous exceptions, some of which relate to certain commercial areas (e.g. petrol stations, pharmacies, cultural, leisure and sports facilities), certain local conditions (e.g. railway and long-distance bus stations, airports) or certain goods (newspapers and magazines, flowers, confectionery and bakery products, dairy products).

These exceptions do not have to be applied for under shop closure law, but result directly from the Bavarian Shop Closure Act.

Exceptions through municipal ordinances

In addition, the municipalities may, by ordinance, set up to four Sundays and public holidays open for business on the occasion of markets, trade fairs or similar events, as well as up to eight nights open for business throughout the municipality on working days from 8.00 p.m. to midnight at the latest, irrespective of the occasion.

In spa, recreation, excursion and pilgrimage resorts, municipalities may allow shops to open on Sundays and public holidays on up to 40 days per year for the sale of tourist goods. On these days, shops may be open for up to eight consecutive hours between 10 am and 8 pm.

These exceptions also do not have to be applied for under shop closure law, but result directly from the respective municipal ordinance in conjunction with the Bavarian Shop Closure Act.

Individual open nights on working days

In addition to the municipality-wide open nights on working days, owners of a sales outlet can organise up to four individual open nights on working days from 8 p.m. to a maximum of midnight per calendar year. Further information can be found under "Related topics" under "Shop opening hours; notification of an individual night open for business on a working day".

Exceptions in the public interest on a case-by-case basis

The Bavarian State Ministry for Family, Labour and Social Affairs (StMAS) can only grant temporary exceptions to the general shop closing times in individual cases within the narrow limits of Art. 8 Para. 1 BayLadSchlG if the exceptions are urgently required in the public interest.

In contrast to mere private and individual interests or mere economic interests, the "urgent public interest" is limited to cases of an exceptional need, in particular a need to supply the population, and can therefore be assumed, for example, if it is necessary to supply a large number of people with food in the event of an emergency.

In addition, according to Art. 8 Para. 2 BayLadSchlG, the governments can authorise temporary exceptions with deviating opening hours in individual cases if it is in the public interest to satisfy the needs of the population that are particularly prominent on individual days - especially in the case of major supra-regional events with exceptional visitor numbers. The StMAS is responsible for exceptional authorisations that affect more than one administrative district.

Requests for exemptions must provide sufficient justification for the required public interest. Furthermore, the temporal and local scope of the desired exception must be described (e.g. using a programme of events and an extract from a street map). In principle, the exception request must be submitted by the respective municipality to the competent authority. A request for an exemption from an individual company or an interest group cannot generally justify a public interest. The final assessment as to whether there is a public interest in granting an exemption is the sole responsibility of the authorising authority.

Case-by-case exceptions by the municipalities

At local events, the municipalities may permit the sale of goods for immediate consumption, consumption or consumption or of perishable goods (e.g. otherwise perishable fresh fruit) to a limited extent for the supply of visitors in accordance with Art. 8 Para. 3 S. 1 BayLadSchlG, if this is necessary to satisfy local needs and is harmless with regard to occupational health and safety.

Pursuant to Art. 8 para. 3 sentence 2 BayLadSchlG, the municipalities may, in individual cases, permit sales at wholesale and weekly markets in the context of Sundays and public holidays open for business, nights open for business on weekdays throughout the municipality or tourist Sunday and public holiday sales.