Store 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 store closing times.

Principle

In Bavaria, the Bavarian Shop Closing Hours 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. Stores 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. railroad 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 store 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 on weekdays from 8 p.m. to midnight at the latest, irrespective of the occasion.

In spa, recreation, excursion and pilgrimage destinations, the municipalities may permit the opening of tourist 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 store 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 weekdays, owners of a sales outlet may hold up to four individual open nights on weekdays from 8:00 p.m. to midnight at the latest 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".

Individual exceptions in the public interest

The Bavarian State Ministry for Family, Labor and Social Affairs (StMAS) can only grant temporary exceptions to the general store 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 interest or mere economic interest, the "urgent public interest" is limited to cases of 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 approve temporary exceptions with different 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 an extraordinary number of visitors. The StMAS is responsible for exceptional permits 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 presented (e.g. by means of a program of events and an excerpt from a street map). In principle, the exception request must be submitted by the respective municipality to the competent authority. A request for exemption from an individual company or an interest group cannot generally justify a public interest. The final assessment of whether there is a public interest in granting an exemption is the sole responsibility of the granting authority.

Exceptions by the municipalities on a case-by-case basis

In the case of local events, the municipalities may permit the sale of goods for immediate consumption, use 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 sentence 1 BayLadSchlG, if this is necessary to satisfy local needs and is unobjectionable with regard to occupational health and safety.

According to Art. 8 Para. 3 S. 2 BayLadSchlG, 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 sales on Sundays and public holidays for tourists.

A temporary exception to the general store closing times can only be granted if the exception is urgently required in the public interest or is necessary to satisfy the needs of the population that are particularly prominent on individual days in the public interest.

Temporary exceptions to the general store closing times may only be granted by the municipalities for the sale of perishable goods and goods for immediate consumption, consumption or consumption if this is necessary to satisfy local needs and is unobjectionable in terms of occupational health and safety.

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