Shops and Establishments Act – Haryana

Shops and Establishments Act - Haryana

Haryana: Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958

The provisions of Punjab Shops & Establishment Act, 1958 applies to all establishment (including Shops & Commercial Establishments) in the state of Haryana by the Haryana Adaptation of Laws Order, 1968.

Definitions:

Commercial establishment: Commercial establishment means any premises wherein any business, trade or profession is carried on for profit, and includes journalistic or printing establishment and premises in which business of banking, insurance, stocks and shares, brokerage or produce exchange is carried on or which is used as hotel, restaurant, boarding or eating-house, theatre, cinema or other place of public entertainment or any other place which the Government may declare, by notification in the Official Gazette , to be a commercial establishment for the purposes of this Act
Employee: Employee means a person wholly or principally employed in, or in connection with, an establishment, whether working on permanent, periodical, contract or piece-rate wages or on commission basis even though he receives no reward for his labour, but does not include a member of the employer’s family
Employer means a person having charge or owning or having ultimate control over the affairs of an establishment and includes members of the family of an employer, a manager, agent or other person acting in the general management or control of an establishment;
Establishment means a shop or a commercial establishment;
Shop: Shop means any premises where any trade or business is carried on or where services are rendered to customers and includes offices, store-rooms, godowns, sale depots or warehouses, whether in the same premises or otherwise, used in connection with such trade or business but does not include a commercial establishment or a shop attached to a factory where the persons employed in the shop are allowed the benefits provided for workers under the Factories Act, 1948

Various compliances required under Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958 read with Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Rules,1959 are as under:

1. Application for registration of establishment [Section 13 & Rule 13]: The employer of every establishment shall submit application in Form F in triplicate for registration of the establishment along with the required documents within 30 days from the date on which the establishment commences its work.

2. Prohibition on employment of children [Section 29]: No child who has not completed the age of 14 years shall be employed in any establishment.

3. Conditions of employments for young persons [Section 6]: Total number of work hours for a young person shall not exceed 30 hours in any one week or 5 hours in any one day. Also, a young person shall not be employed continuously for more than 3 hours without an interval of at least half an hour for meal or rest.

4. Conditions of employment of women [Section 30]:

1. No woman is required to work at night in any establishment except an establishment engaged in the treatment of sick, infirm, destitute or mentally unfit.
2. No employer shall employ a woman during six weeks following the day of her confinement or miscarriage.

5. Hours of employment [Section 7]:

1. No person shall be employed for more than forty-eight hours in any one week and nine hours in any one-day.
2. In exceptional cases, overtime hours should not exceed 50 within 1 quarter and the overtime wages shall be twice the normal wages

6. Intervals for rest and meals [Section 8]: No employee except a chowkidar, watchman or guard, shall be allowed to work in an establishment for more than 5 hours before he has had an interval for rest of at least half an hour. The period of work of an employee in an establishment shall be so fixed that, inclusive of his interval for rest, the spread over shall not be more than 12 hours.

7. Close day [Section 10(1)]: Every establishment shall remain closed on every Sunday. Provided that in the case of an establishment attached to a factory the employer may substitute the close day of such establishment so as to corresponds to the substituted close day of the factory

8. Intimation of working hours, etc [Section 10 (2) & Rule 3]: The employer of an establishment shall in Form A intimate to the Inspector within whose local limits the establishment is situated, the working hours, the day in a week employee shall not be allowed/ required to work in any other establishment and the period of interval of the employed person within 15 days of the date of registration of the establishment. Such intimation need not be sent by an employer within whose establishment no employee is working.

9. Change in working hours, etc already intimated to Inspector [Section 10(2)(ii)]: The employer of an establishment may change the working hours and the period of interval once in a quarter of the year by giving intimation in the prescribed form to the Inspector at least 15 days before the change is to take place.

10. Earned Leave [Section 14(a)]: Every employee who has been in employment for not less than 20 days in a year shall be entitled to one day’s earned leave for every such 20 days. Provided that a young person shall be entitled to one day’s earned leave for every 15 days of employment during the year. If an employee does not in any one year take the whole of the leave allowed to him under Section14(a), any leave not taken by him shall be added to the leave to be allowed to him in the succeeding year.

11. Wages in case of Discharge/ dismissal [Section 14(b)]: If an employee is discharged or dismissed from service during the course of the year he shall be entitled to leave with wages or wage in lieu of un-availed leave at the rates laid down in Section 14(a).

12. Casual and sick leave [Section 14(4)]: Every employee in an establishment shall be allowed with wages seven days casual leave and seven days sick leave in a year.

13. Wages during leave period [Section 15(2), 15(3)]:

1. For the leave allowed to him, an employee shall be paid at the rate equal to the daily average of his total full-time earnings for the days on which he worked during the month immediately preceding his leave exclusive of any overtime and bonus but inclusive of dearness allowance and the cash equivalent of the advantage accruing through the Concessional sale to the employee of food grains and other articles.
2. An employee who has been allowed leave for not less than five days in the case of a young person and four days in any other case shall, on demand, before his leave begins, be paid the wages due for the period of leave allowed.

14. Wage Period [Section 16 & Rule 8]:

1. Every person responsible for the payment of wages to an employee shall fix a period in respect of which such wages shall be payable.
2. No wage period shall exceed one month.
3. The wages of every person employed shall be paid before the expiry of the seventh day from the date on which the wages become due.
4. Where the employment of any person is terminated by or on behalf of the employer the wages earned buy him and the remuneration in lieu of un-availed period of due leave shall be paid before the expiry of the second working day after such termination and where an employee quits his employment, on or before the next pay day. Provided that no claim shall be entertained unless it is preferred within 6 months from the date of its accruing except under special circumstances at the discretion of the Chief Inspector of Shops and Commercial Establishments.

15. Form B: Notice specifying close days, working hours, period of interval [Section 20 & Rule 4]: The employer of every establishment shall in Form B keep exhibited in the establishment a notice setting forth the close day, the working hours and the period of interval of employed persons, if any, and such other particulars as may be prescribed.

16. Record of working hours, rest intervals, etc [Section 20]:

1. The employer of any establishment, about the business of which persons are employed, shall in the prescribed form and manner keep a record of working hours, rest intervals and the amount of leave taken by every person employed about the business of an establishment and particulars of all overtime employment shall be separately entered in the record.
2. The employer shall mark the attendance of every employees in the register maintained for the purpose within one hour of the start of duty and in the case of overtime every entry regarding the commencement or closure of overtime shall respectively be made before or after such commencement of closure.
3. The employer of every establishment shall keep a photograph of each employee who has completed three months continuous service in the establishment.

17. Form C, D, & E [Section 20 & Rule 5]: The employer of every establishment shall maintain a register of employees, a register of wages of employees and a Register of deductions in Form C, D & E respectively

18. Notice of renewal [Section 22]: No employee shall be removed from service unless and until one month’s previous notice or pay in lieu thereof has been given to him except in case of misconduct and where he has not completed 3 months.

19. Language in which records and registers are to be kept [Rule 6&7]: Every register, form or record required to be maintained or furnished under the Act and rules shall be in English and Hindi and all entries therein shall be legibly made in ink. Also, every such register shall be duly bound and page-marked in serial number with sign by the employer and the Inspector concerned. Also, all registers and records required to be maintained under the Act and rules shall be preserved by the employer for a period of 3 years in Haryana to be calculated from the date to which such records or registers relate.

20. Maternity Benefit [Section 31 & Rule 12]: The Maternity benefit payable to a woman shall be at the rate of her average daily wages earned during the 3 months immediately before the period of the 6 weeks preceding the day of her delivery and also payment of maternity benefit accruing to a woman employee shall be made to her after 1 week from the date of demand after delivery. If the employer fails to make the payment within the said period he shall pay to her an additional amount at the rate of 50 per centum of the maternity benefit as penalty.

21. Health [Rule 16]: The provisions for maintaining the health of employees as provided under Rule 16 of Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Rules, 1958 shall be followed.

22. Safety [Rule 17]:

1. Every dangerous part of a machinery in an establishment shall be securely fenced by safeguards of substantial construction which shall be kept in position while the parts of machinery they are fencing are in motion or in use.
2. In every establishment, where manufacturing process is carried on with the aid of electric power, suitable devices for cutting off power in emergencies from running machinery shall be provided and maintained.
3. No employee with loose fitting clothes on shall be allowed or made to work near the moving machinery or belt and the tight clothes for the purpose will be provided by the employer.

23. Protection of eyes [Rule 17A]: The employer shall provide suitable goggles for the protection of eyes of the employees engaged on or in the immediate vicinity of the manufacturing process which is any way open to risk of injury to eyes from particles/ fragments thrown off in course of the process or risk to the eyes by reason of exposure to excessive light.

24. Precautions in case of fire [Rule 18]:

1. Adequate means of escape in case of fire shall be provided in every establishment.
2. The doors affording exit from any room shall not be locked or fastened so that they can be easily and immediately opened from inside while any person is within the room.
3. Buckets and/or chemical fire extinguishers shall be provided in suitable number and at suitable sites according to the nature of work carried on and the size of the premises.

25. First-aid box [Rule 19 (1)]: In every establishment a first-aid box with the contents as mentioned in Rule 19(1) shall be maintained

26. Welfare [Rule 19 (2), (3)]:

1. The employer to take measures to exhaust out the smoke produced in the course of business in order to safeguard the health of the persons employed in the premises.
2. The employer of every establishment where food, drink and beverage is served to the customers will have all the employees including the employer medically examined at least once in a year by certifying surgeon or by doctor incharge of civil dispensary, where certifying surgeon is not available. A certificate in Form I to the effect that the person so examined is free from communicable diseases shall be obtained and produced before the Inspector on demand.

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