{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/shops-act-1950-repealed-1121994/section-17",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/shops-act-1950-repealed-1121994/section-17.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/Geo6/14/28",
  "legislation_title": "Shops Act 1950 (repealed 1.12.1994)",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/shops-act-1950-repealed-1121994",
  "path": "section/17",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "17",
  "heading": "Statutory half-holiday for shop-assistants.",
  "text": "(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, on at least one week day in each week a shop assistant shall not be employed about the business of a shop after half-past one o’clock in the afternoon:\nProvided that this provision shall not apply to the week preceding a bank holiday if the shop assistant is not employed on the bank holiday, and if on one week day in the following week in addition to the bank holiday the employment of the shop assistant ceases not later than half-past one o’clock in the afternoon.\n(2) The occupier of a shop shall fix, and shall specify in a notice in the prescribed form, which must be affixed in the shop in such manner and at such time as may be prescribed, the day of the week on which his shop assistants are not employed after half-past one o’clock and may fix different days for different shop assistants.\n(3) In the case of any contravention of this section, the occupier of the shop shall be liable to a fine not exceeding—\n(a) in the case of a first offence, level 1 on the standard scale;\n(b) in the case of a second offence, level 1 on the standard scale; and\n(c) in the case of a third or subsequent offence, level 1 on the standard scale—\nunless, in the case of a shop assistant employed after half-past one o’clock in contravention of this section, he proves that the shop assistant was employed merely for the purpose of serving a customer whom he was serving at that time, or, where the time for closing the shop was also half-past one o’clock, that the shop assistant was employed merely for the purpose of serving customers who were in the shop at that time.\nIn considering for the purposes of this subsection whether an offence is a first, second or subsequent offence, any offence under subsection (2) of section nineteen of this Act shall be treated as if it were an offence under this subsection.",
  "extent": "E+W+S",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Words substituted (E.W.S.) by virtue of (E.W.) Criminal Justice Act 1982 (c. 48, SIF 39:1), s. 46 and (S.) Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (c. 21, SIF 39:1), s. 289G"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/14/28/section/17",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T11:18:55.840337+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}