Even shop robots should have Sundays off, German court rules as it says automated supermarkets must close on the seventh day

Robots working long hours in supermarkets are just as entitled to a day of rest as their human counterparts, a German court has ruled, upholding a centuries-old ban on Sunday commerce.

Tegut, a regional chain now experimenting with some 40 fully-automated stores, has been embroiled in a legal battle since service sector union Verdi argued allowing the shops to stay open could have 'knock-on effects' for human workers.

The highest administrative court in the state of Hesse agreed that the innovative new stores, in operation for the last four years, should be made to close on Sundays, citing a 1,700-year-old Christian principle of 'Sunday rest' enshrined in the constitution since 1919.

Thomas Stäb, a board member of Tegut, told the Financial Times the ruling was 'entirely grotesque', arguing that the stores were 'basically walk-in vending machines'. He said Sundays accounted for some 25-30 per cent of the automated stores' weekly trade.

The Verdi union contested that the success of such shops could see rivals pushing for further relaxation of Sunday trading rules, however, arguing workers need the guaranteed day off to spend time with loved ones.

Tegut, a Swiss-owned supermarket based in Fulda, operates some 300 conventional stores nationwide, and has sought innovative means of expansion with its 40 'teos'.

The 'teos', named in tribute to the chain's late founder, Theo Gutberlet, operate much like normal stores, allowing customers to peruse and pay by self-checkout after dropping off their ID at the entrance.

Stäb said they recorded higher rates of shoplifting without human security, but the profits outweighed the losses.

Teos provided the brand with a way around Germany's strict trading rules, which require stores to start closing by 6:30pm on weekdays and avoid Sunday shopping altogether, with a few notable exceptions.

Caveats have been added since the late 1980s to include flexibility at certain times of the year, and devolving regulatory powers to each of Germany's 16 states.

Train stations, airports and petrol stations may still open on Sundays - but the restrictive laws ensure some variation between the law and operating hours in practice. 

The perceived relaxation of rules has been met with resistance from unions and religious groups, who maintain Sunday should be withheld as a day of rest.

Philip Büttner, an official at KWA, an affiliate of the Protestant Church lobbying against Sunday trading, told the Financial Times: 'Our society needs a special day per week that has its own characteristics to celebrate Christian spirituality and to have shared experiences with friends and family.'

Stefan Naas, head of the liberal FDP’s parliamentary group in Hesse, told the outlet the 'current law is completely at odds with today’s reality', however, arguing the 'sale of a bottle of milk and a box of cream' does nothing to fundamentally undermine a 'quiet Sunday'.

Supporters of the innovative new stores say their use on Sundays could also help create competition with the few petrol stations and souvenir stores allowed to open on the weekend to the benefit of consumers.

“More alternatives to kiosks and petrol stations could create more competition and lower prices, which would benefit consumers,' Jan Büchel, an economist who specialises in digitisation at the German Economic Institute, told Fortune.

'If technological innovations make it possible for people to buy individual goods without, conversely, other people having to work for hours to do so, the potential should be exploited,' he added.

In light of the December ruling against Tegut, the government of Hesse has indicated it is willing to create a legal exception for automated stores.

Stefan Naas told the Financial Times he hopes the issue will be resolved by summer 2024, deeming the law an anachronism. 

The judgement only applies to the region, and the so-called 'vending machines' will be allowed to operate in other German states for the time being.

Tegut has since paused its expansion of its successful automated supermarkets in the state.