Polish Gas Stations To Close On Poland's Big Day Of Travel
Classified Polnews
The Polish Government has announced that gas stations, despite what the law says, may stay open on the Holiday and that they will not inspect them for compliance with the law.
Gas Stations
Closed By Law
The recently passed law limiting trade on the 12 major holidays in Poland requires half or more of the gas stations to close on 1 November which is the day that Polish people travel, sometimes very long distances, to visit family graves.
The law was passed by the Kaczynski Government this year. It was supported by all parties but for the Civic Platform. It restricts trade activities to the point that only some small shops may open.
When passed, it was assumed by many politicians that gas stations were exempt from the provisions that required businesses engaged in trade to shut down on the twelve days covered by the law. See Polish National Holidays
But the Ministry of Labor noticed that the law is clear and that gas stations are not exempt.
In a last minute effort, the Ministry is looking for legal options to allow the stations to stay open. So far it has determined that private stations and stations run by agents of the oil companies can be open.
Any business, in fact can open, as long as the owner either runs it alone or hires people on a temporary contract for that day with specific duties laid out in that contract. The Ministry of Labor proposes that businesses hire students for that day.
Some of the large gasoline distributors, even though their stations are run by agents, say that they may not open all the stations.
Other gas stations have not yet made final decisions as to whether or not to open stations.
The Ministry of Labor says that it will not have many inspectors on the streets checking for compliance. But they did say that they will have operators standing by for people to report violations.
Read in Polish W swieta nie zatankujemy, ale male sklepy beda otwarte
