It was an embarrassing situation. I was put in when an old friend from Britain visited me a couple of weeks ago. We were having a sumptuous dinner and I was planning to offer him a glass of wine before we were going out to a local club. However, I had to realize that I had no wine at home whereupon my acquaintance suggested to purchase a new bottle of wine at the nearby supermarket. Unfortunately, I had to inform him that most German shops close at 8pm and a very heated discussion arose about whether there should be governmental restrictions on shop opening times. This essay aims to present three major advantages of the regulation of shop trading hours and will support the German trading restrictions by highlighting the employees ´ working conditions, the limited profit margins and, finally, the cultural value of having a day of rest. First, one has to consider the labour conditions of the supermarkets ´ employees. Thousands of men and women would have to work in nightshifts and, in addition, on Sundays. When economists demand fully deregulated shop trading hours, they tend to forget about the staff ´s private life. A stable work-life balance is, in fact, an important aspect for a fulfilled life. We live in an increasingly materialistic society and it is no surprise that every year many nurses, teachers, managers and supermarket staff members, too, are suffering from burnout; even today. Should we push economic interests even further to the limit, allowing managers to exploit their staff? Should we sit on the sidelines while CEOs introduce longer working hours and raise the age of retirement? I, for one, am convinced that we should not. Instead, we have to maintain the workers ´ rights and reestablish a society in which humane treatment is upheld. Second, it is worth emphasizing that there is only a limited amount of money to spend. More simply put, deregulated shopping hours will not lead to more retail activity and higher profi