Easter trading: 'Idiotic' rules hard to digest, restaurant-owner MP says

Every Easter brings eggs, long weekends - and grumbles about trading laws.

But this year some businesses have the added element of just entering the new orange traffic light pandemic setting before the trading rules kick in.

One MP pushing for a law change called the existing rules "idiotic" and an employment advocate said a hodgepodge of regulations caused confusion.

An Easter Bunny doles out treats during a shindig in Waipukurau. An Act MP is urging politicians to hand out more freedom to workers and businesses and overhaul trading laws. Photo / Warren Buckland

Act's small business spokesman Chris Baillie said MPs should support his bill to change the laws.

"It's quite simple – if you want to trade, you can. That's how a free society should operate," Baillie said.

"At my restaurant and bar in Nelson, our staff have to lecture adults about how they can have a glass of wine with a salad but not with a bowl of fries," Baillie said. "It's madness."

He said his bill would also look after workers by keeping existing employee protections in respect of Easter Sunday, and extend these protections to Good Friday.

Act's Chris Baillie says the rules are insane and his alternative is: "If you want to trade, you can." Photo / Supplied

Employment expert Max Whitehead said existing laws allowed workers to choose whether or not to work this Sunday.

"Generally, the employee has the right to refuse to work."

Easter Sunday is a restricted trading day, but not a public holiday. Good Friday is both a public holiday and a restricted trading day.

Easter Monday is a public holiday, but does not have trading restrictions.

"Easter Sunday is the area that causes gross confusion," the Whitehead Group managing director added. "The issue is that each council can have their own set of rules."

Auckland Business Chamber chief executive Michael Barnett said New Zealand was a multicultural country and it was time to review if the trading laws were relevant.

He said hospitality companies exiting the red traffic light setting were desperate to accelerate their recovery, and in some cases Easter trading laws would stymie that.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she'd heard many debates about the trading rules over the years and generally the issue was taken to a conscience vote.

"I'm not sure that they're confusing but I certainly know that there are people who don't like them," Finance Minister Grant Robertson said when asked about the trading laws.

"I think it's 362-and-a-half days a year that people can go and shop very freely," he said today.

"Having a couple of days a year where we all take a bit of time to reflect doesn't seem like a bad thing to me."

Since 2016, territorial authorities have been allowed to make policies permitting shops within their area to trade on Easter Sunday.

In Auckland, shops on Parnell Rd can legally operate on Easter Sunday from 10am-6pm due to an exemption.

Elsewhere in the city, the council said only service stations, dairies, restaurants, cafes, takeways, duty-free shops and garden centres could legally open this Sunday.