Sundays are non-working days in the Federation starting today

(Patria) - Today will be the first non-working Sunday for traders in the FBiH, after the House of Peoples of the Federal Parliament adopted the Bill on Internal Trade last month.

The ban on working on Sundays in the FBiH applies to all shops, except for bakeries, petrol stations, and florists.

According to Article 131 of the Law, traders are obliged to harmonize their operations in accordance with this law within six months of its entry into force.

The Bill was adopted with an amendment by the Government of the FBiH, which leaves municipalities and cities with the possibility to request permits for some retail facilities to operate.

Municipal councils will be able to submit a proposal for an exemption to the Federal Ministry of Trade, and the FBiH Government will have to decide on it.

The proponent of the Law was the Trade and Service Workers' Union of BiH, in an effort to ensure greater rights for workers who have worked on Sundays until now.

The President of the Employers' Association of FBiH, Adnan Selimbegović, previously stated that although the ban on working on Sundays will come into effect today, there will be an adjustment period during which inspections will be able to monitor shops but will not have the possibility to impose penalties for the next six months.

However, the difficulty in implementing the Law is shown by yesterday's case from Mostar, where the shopping center "Plaza" announced that it will not comply with it, referring to an earlier decision of the Mostar City Council from 2022, when, as they state, they received an exemption allowing them to work on Sundays.

Federal MP Suada Halilović reacted to this information, who, as she wrote on Facebook, contacted the director of the Federal Administration for Inspection Affairs, Ivana Prvulović, and called on her to take all measures within their jurisdiction to ensure that those who do not comply with the Law are sanctioned.