In this article, Avaish Kant from ILS Pune discusses the Gujarat Shops and Establishment Act, 1948.

Gujarat Shops and Establishment Act, 1948.

• The Gujarat Shops and Establishment Act 1948 earlier called the Bombay Shops and Establishment Act 1948, came into force on 11^th of Janusary 1949, on the basis of Mr. Shantilal Shah’s Committee’s Report.
• The main objective of the Act as given in the Preamble of the bare text is to “consolidate and amend the law relating to the regulation of conditions of work and employment in shops, commercial establishments, residential hotels, restaurants, eating houses, theatres, other places of public amusement or entertainment and other establishments.”

The act was previously called “The Bombay Shops and Establishments Act”, however the word “Bombay” was substituted with “Gujarat” by the Gujarat short title (Amendment) Act, 2011.  The act applies to the whole of the territory of Gujarat.

REGISTRATION OF ESTABLISHMENT

Before venturing into the territory of the provisions dealing with the registration of an establishment, we need to take a look into the definition of the term “Establishment” as defined in Section 2(8) –

“Establishment” means a shop, commercial establishment, residential hotel, restaurant, eating house, theatre or other place of public amusement or entertainment to which this Act applies and includes such other establishment as the state Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be an establishment for the purposes of this Act”

In accordance to the act there are three categories of establishment namely;

• Establishments existing in local areas mentioned in Schedule I on the date on which this Act comes into force
• Establishments existing in local areas on the date on which this section comes into force.
• New establishments in local areas mentioned in Schedule I and other local areas in which this section has come into force

Section 7 of the act deals with the registration of establishment, Section 7(1) deals with the application format and content.

Section 7(1) lays down that every employer[1] of the establishment shall within 30 days of commencement of the act[2], commencement of the section[3] or commencement of the work of the establishment[4]  shall send to the Inspector of the local area concerned a statement, in a prescribed form, together with such fees as may be prescribed, containing–

1. The name of the employer and the manager, if any;
2. The postal address of the establishment;
3. The name, if any, of the establishment;
4. The category of the establishment, i.e., whether it is a shop, commercial establishment, residential hotel, restaurant, eating house, theatere or other place of public amusement or entertainment; and
5. Such other particulars as may be prescribed

On receipt of the statement and the fees, the Inspector shall, on being satisfied about the correctness of the statement, register the establishment in the register of establishments in such manner as may be prescribed and shall issue, in a prescribed form, a registration certificate to the employer.

Section 7(3) of the act states the procedure to be followed in case of any kind of doubt or difference of opinion between the employer and the Inspector relating to the category of the establishment

In the event of any doubt or difference of opinion between an employer and the Inspector as to the category to which an establishment should belong, the Inspector shall refer the matter to the matter to the prescribed authority which shall, after such inquiry as it thinks proper, decide the category of such establishment and its decision shall be final for the purposes of this Act.

APPLICATION FOR RENEWAL OF CERTIFICATE

The Section 7(6) of the act deals with the provision relating to the renewal of the certificate. It lays down that;

“An employer, holding a registration certificate shall, except in the circumstances mentioned in section 9 of the act[5], make an application for its renewal in the prescribed form to the Inspector not later than fifteen days before the date of its expiry. Such application shall be accompanied by such fee as may be prescribed.”

On the receipt of the application of renewal the inspector has to confirm the details mentioned in the application and if the details are found to be correct, the inspector shall renew the registration certificate in the prescribed form, and that certificate shall remain in force for the period for which it has been renewed unless it is cancelled earlier that is before the period expires

CHANGE IN PARTICULARS SUBMITTED

Section 8 of the act deals with the procedure of notifying any change in the particulars of the application submitted to the inspector. The section lays down that –

“It shall be the duty of an employer to notify to the Inspector, in prescribed form. (any change in any of the particulars contained in the statement submitted under section 7 within such period, after the change has taken place, as the State Government may prescribed in respect of any establishment or class of establishments]. The Inspector shall, on receiving such notice and the prescribed fees and on being satisfied about its correctness, make the change in the register of establishments in accordance with such notice and shall amend the registration certificate or issue a fresh registration certificate, if necessary”

DETAILED PROVISIONS ON SHOPS AND ESTABLISHMENTS

Apart from providing a set procedure for registration, renewal and closure, the Gujarat Shops and Establishment act also lays down provisions pertaining to the operations of such establishments.

• For this purpose the act has laid down timing for opening, closing, interval period for Shops and commercial establishments. The Act lays down that shops dealing wholly with milk, eggs, meat and other farm and dairy products should not open before 5 am, while shops other than those wholly dealing with farm and dairy products should not open before 7:30 am.
• The acts have also laid down closing timing of the shops; it says that no shops except the ones dealing with paan and beedi shall remain open after 8:30 pm, while paan-beedi shops are allowed to remain open till 11 in the night.

The Act also prohibits hawking before and after closing hours of shops. Commercial Establishments according to the act have the permission to remain open from 8:30 in the morning to 8:30 in the night.

PROVISIONS RELATIONG TO EMPLOYEES

In dealing further with Shops and other establishments, the act takes a cue from the Factories Act[6]  and has laid down provisions on Cleanliness of premises and Health and Safety of the employees.

In major establishment like Restaurants and hotels the act requires the establishment to furnish Identity Cards to its employees.

Section 25 of the act lays down that

“The employer shall furniture every employee in a residential hotel, restaurant or eating house an identity card which shall be produced by the employee on demand by an Inspector. Such card shall contain the following and such other particulars as may be prescribed, namely,

1. The name of the employer;
2. The name, if any, and the postal address, of the establishment;
3. The name and age of the employee;
4. The hours of work, the interval for rest and holiday of the employee;
5. The signature (with date) of the employer or manager”

Apart from the health, safety and employment provisions the act from Section 35 to Section 38C also deal with the provisions relating to Payment of Wages and Paid Leaves to the employees.

The following table lays down the summarised provisions of Leaves as given in the Act[7]

Gujarat Shops and Establishment Act, 1948

ENFORCEMENT & INSPECTIONS AND PENALTIES THERIN-

The Act also gives the power to the state for enforcement of the provisions and inspections of the Shops and establishments, wherein the State is empowered to appoint an inspector under this act, and that Inspector is given the power to occasionally inspect the shops and establishments to check if the employer is following the rules laid down by the act or not.

Offenders that are discovered after inspections are dealt with under this Act, which has also provided penalties for any kind of offence under this act.

FEW MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

The Act also has laid down miscellaneous provisions under itself to bring in further clarity of how the law is to operate, and also to ensure smooth running of the Shops and establishments under this act. Following are some of the miscellaneous provisions under the act.

Section 62 provides for maintenance of registers and records and display of notices as per the prescribed rules. Section 63 provides for wages for overtime work in the different categories of establishments and the explanation to that section provides for a limit of hours of work for shops and commercial establishments, residential hotels, restaurants, eating-houses theatres or other places of public amusements or entertainments and also for any other establishment. Section 65 restricts double employment on a holiday or during leave as per the Act. Section 66 provides for the notice of termination of service. Section 69 preserves the rights and privileges under other laws, contract, custom, usage or any award, settlement, etc., if such rights and privileges are more favourable. Section 70 finally provides for the extensions of the Factories Act to all persons employed in and in connexion with a factory, notwithstanding the fact that the Factories Act did not apply to those non-workers.

OVERVIEW SUMMARY

The Gujarat Shops and Establishments act of 1948, takes a holistic approach while dealing with Shops and Establishments, it takes into consideration of every situation wherein the employer is placed, thus accordingly designing the provisions for him/her to smoothly run his/her establishment. It also takes into its view sight the conditions of the employees and it makes an attempt to safeguard their rights. Thus all in all the Gujarat Shops and Establishments act is a very balanced legislation that takes into consideration the rights and conditions of both the employer and the employee.

This was all on Gujarat Shops and Establishment Act, 1948. What are your views on Gujarat Shops and Establishment Act, 1948? Do comment below and let us know.

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REFERENCES

[1] According to Section 2(7) “Employer” means a person owning or having ultimate control over the affairs of an establishment

[2] Establishments existing in local areas mentioned in Schedule I on the date on which this Act comes into force

[3]  Establishments existing in local areas on the date on which this section comes into force.

[4]  New establishments in local areas mentioned in Schedule I and other local areas in which this section has come into force

[5] Section 9: Closing of establishment to be communicated to Inspector The employer shall, within ten days on his closing the establishment, notify to the Inspector in writing accordingly. The Inspector shall, on receiving the information and being satisfied about its correctness, remove such establishment from the register of establishments and cancel the registration certificate.

[6] Factories Act came into force on 23^rd September 1948, it has also laid down certain provisions on health and safety

[7] http://www.paycheck.in/main/labour-law-india/leave-and-holidays/paid-leave