Shops and Establishments Act: registration and compliance guide

The Shops and Establishments Act is a state law that regulates employment in shops, offices, IT companies and other commercial establishments. It covers registration, working hours, weekly offs, leave, holidays, overtime, night work for women and the registers an employer must keep. Each state has its own Act, so thresholds and rules differ, and several states now require registration only above 20 workers, with a simple intimation below that.

This guide covers registration and the working conditions the Act regulates. For leave entitlements in more detail, see our guide to leave types in India.

What does the Shops and Establishments Act govern?

There is no single national Shops and Establishments Act. Each state and union territory has passed its own, and several have rewritten or amended theirs in recent years. Most Acts cover the same ground:

• Registration of the establishment, or an intimation where the state allows it.
• Working hours, rest intervals and spread-over (the total span from start to finish of the working day, including breaks).
• Weekly off and opening and closing hours, where the state still regulates them.
• Leave and holidays: earned or privilege leave, sick and casual leave, and national and festival holidays.
• Overtime: when it is allowed, the quarterly cap and the rate, commonly twice the ordinary rate.
• Employment of women at night, with consent and safeguards, and restrictions on young persons.
• Wages: in some states, the date by which wages must be paid.
• Registers, records and notices to be kept or displayed.
• Termination and service certificates in some states.

Who needs Shops and Establishments registration?

Broadly, any establishment where business, trade or professional work is carried on that is not a factory. That includes:

• shops and retail outlets;
• offices of companies, firms and professionals, including IT and ITeS companies;
• commercial establishments such as banks, insurers, brokers and service providers;
• restaurants, hotels, cafes and places of entertainment, in most states.

Factories are usually covered by factory law instead. Whether a small establishment must register depends on the state. Several states have moved to a headcount threshold:

State	Registration position (as reported on our state pages)
Maharashtra	The 2017 Act required registration at 10 or more workers. An amendment ordinance from 1 October 2025 raised this to 20; establishments with fewer than 20 workers file an intimation. Confirm the status of the replacement legislation.
Gujarat	The 2019 Act, as amended from 16 December 2025, applies to establishments with 20 or more workers.
Delhi	The 2026 Amendment Act, notified on 11 March 2026, applies the Act to establishments with 20 or more employees.
Haryana	Establishments with 20 or more workers register; smaller ones file an online intimation.
Uttar Pradesh	Amended from 19 November 2025 to apply to establishments with 20 or more employees.
Karnataka	The Amendment Act notified on 4 September 2026 introduces digital registration with lifetime validity.
West Bengal	Register within 30 days of starting.

A higher threshold reduces paperwork, not other obligations: the Labour Codes, POSH and the DPDP Act still apply to a 12-person office.

How to register: the typical process

The steps are similar across states, though the portal, form and fee differ.

1. Check applicability for each premises: the state Act, its threshold and whether you need registration or an intimation.
2. Apply online on the state labour department or municipal portal within the period the Act sets after you start business (for example, 30 days in West Bengal).
3. Provide details: legal name, address of the premises, nature of business, date of commencement, employer and manager details, and the number of workers, usually split by gender.
4. Upload documents the state asks for. These commonly include the PAN of the business, proof of address of the premises (rent agreement or ownership document), identity proof of the employer or authorised signatory, the incorporation certificate or partnership deed, and a photograph.
5. Pay the fee. Fees vary by state and often by headcount band, so check the current schedule on the portal.
6. Receive the certificate, usually electronically, and display it at the premises if the state requires.

Renewal or lifetime registration

Many older Acts required periodic renewal. Many states now issue a one-time registration valid until closure or a change in particulars, and Karnataka's 2026 amendment moves it to lifetime validity. Even with lifetime registration, you must intimate changes such as a new address, a change in employer or manager, or a large change in headcount within the time the state sets, and intimate closure.

Working hours, leave and other rules

The table shows what typically varies and the examples our state payroll pages record. Treat every figure as state-specific.

Area	What varies	Examples
Daily hours	8 or 9 hours traditionally; several states now allow up to 10	Gujarat and Maharashtra allow up to 10 hours; Uttar Pradesh 9; Delhi 10 with a 12-hour spread-over
Weekly hours	Commonly 48	Tamil Nadu: 8 hours a day and 48 a week
Overtime cap	Hours per quarter	144 hours a quarter in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh; 156 in Haryana
Overtime rate	Usually twice the ordinary rate	Twice the ordinary rate in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, West Bengal and Haryana
Annual leave	Days and accrual rule	Telangana: 15 days after 240 days of service, accumulating to 60. West Bengal: 14 days of privilege leave
Sick and casual leave	Days, and whether sick leave is on full or half pay	West Bengal: 14 days of sick leave on half pay and 10 days of casual leave. Telangana: up to 12 days each
Wage payment date	Some Acts set their own deadline	Telangana: before the fifth day after the wage period ends. West Bengal: by the 10th of the following month
Night work for women	Consent and safeguards required	Gujarat and Delhi allow it with consent and safeguards such as transport; Kerala with safeguards
24x7 operation	Permission and conditions	Tamil Nadu allows establishments with 10 or more persons to operate 24x7 for three years from 6 June 2025, on conditions
Service certificate	Whether and when one must be issued	Karnataka: within seven days of being sought, under the 2026 amendment

Our state payroll guides carry the current notes for ten states.

Worked example: overtime under a state Act

An employee in a Mumbai office earns ₹26,000 a month and works a schedule of 26 days of 8 hours, so 208 hours a month. The company's policy, consistent with the state's ordinary rate rules, takes the hourly ordinary rate as ₹26,000 ÷ 208 = ₹125.

• In a busy month the employee works 18 hours of overtime.
• Overtime pay at twice the ordinary rate: 18 × ₹125 × 2 = ₹4,500.
• Across the quarter the employee works 18, 22 and 30 hours, a total of 70 hours, which is within a cap of 144 hours a quarter.

How the ordinary rate is worked out (which components count, and the divisor) differs by state and by policy, so set it once in writing and apply it consistently. Our guide to attendance and overtime rules covers the attendance side.

How the Shops and Establishments Act fits with the OSH Code

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 has been in force since 21 November 2025. It applies to establishments with 10 or more workers and sets national provisions on working hours (8 hours a day, with intervals and spread-over notified by the appropriate Government), annual leave, and the employment of women at night with consent and prescribed safeguards. It also has its own electronic registration of establishments.

The state Shops and Establishments Acts have not been repealed by the Code. In practice:

• both can apply to the same office, and you should meet the stricter requirement where they differ;
• the OSH Code's working conditions apply to "workers", which excludes people employed mainly in managerial or administrative roles and supervisors above a notified wage, while many Shops and Establishments Acts cover all employees;
• state rules under the OSH Code are still being notified, and how each state aligns its Shops and Establishments Act with the Code is still being settled.

Track updates from the Ministry of Labour and Employment and your state labour department, such as the Maharashtra Commissioner of Labour.

Multi-location companies: one registration per establishment

Registration is per establishment, not per company. Each office, branch, store or warehouse is usually a separate establishment under the Act of the state where it sits, and the headcount threshold is tested for that premises.

Take a company with offices in Mumbai (60 people), Pune (18), Bengaluru (45), Gurugram (12) and Delhi (25):

• Mumbai: registration under the Maharashtra Act.
• Pune: fewer than 20 workers, so an intimation under the Maharashtra amendment, not a registration.
• Bengaluru: registration under the Karnataka Act.
• Gurugram: fewer than 20 workers, so an online intimation in Haryana.
• Delhi: 20 or more employees, so the Delhi Act applies.

Each premises then follows its own state's hours, leave, holidays and overtime rules. Build location variants where a state's floor is higher than your policy.

Compliance calendar

When	What to do
Before or on starting	Register or intimate within the state's period; display the certificate and required notices
Start of each year	Publish the holiday list for each location; check leave policy against each state's floor
Monthly	Pay wages by the earlier of the Code on Wages deadline and any state deadline; keep attendance, wage and leave registers current
Quarterly	Check overtime hours against the state cap
Annually	File any annual return the state requires; renew registration where it is not lifetime
On change	Intimate changes in address, employer, manager or headcount within the state's period
On closure	Intimate closure and settle all dues

The Code on Wages requires monthly wages to be paid before the 7th of the following month. See our payroll compliance checklist for the other monthly dates.

Penalties for non-compliance

Penalties are set by each state Act. They are usually fines, higher for repeat offences, for running without registration, breaching hours or leave rules, or not maintaining registers. Penalty amounts change with amendments, so check the current Act for each state rather than relying on an older summary.

Common mistakes

• One registration for the whole company instead of one per establishment.
• Applying head office rules everywhere, when each premises follows its own state Act.
• Assuming lifetime registration needs no updates, and missing change intimations.
• Ignoring state wage payment dates that are earlier than the Code on Wages deadline.
• Overtime with no quarterly tracking, so caps are breached unnoticed.
• Night shifts for women without the written consent and safeguards the state requires.

FAQs

Is Shops and Establishments registration mandatory for an IT company? In most states, yes, for offices above the state's threshold. Below it, some states require only an intimation.

Do I need a separate Shops and Establishments licence for each branch? Usually yes. Registration is per establishment under the Act of the state where it is located.

Does Shops and Establishments registration need renewal? It depends on the state. Many states now issue one-time or lifetime registration, but changes and closure must still be intimated.

Is the Shops and Establishments Act replaced by the OSH Code? No. The state Acts remain in force alongside the OSH Code, and both can apply to the same establishment.

What documents are needed for Shops and Establishments registration? Commonly the business PAN, proof of address of the premises, identity proof of the employer, the incorporation certificate or partnership deed and a photograph. Each state's portal lists its own requirements.

How NeevHR helps

NeevHR lets you configure leave policies with state statutory carry-forward floors, keep a location-aware holiday calendar with state-specific days, and apply shift, grace and overtime rules in attendance for each employee group. Registration itself is done on the state portal; NeevHR keeps the day-to-day rules each location must follow consistent with the policy you set.

This article provides general information for educational purposes. Statutory rules, thresholds, rates and filing requirements may change; verify with the relevant authority or a qualified professional. Last reviewed: 06 Oct 2026.