The Odisha Shops and commercial establishments act 1956

Summary

The Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, and Rules, are applicable to all the shops and commercial establishments in the whole of the Odisha State.

The Act is enacted for the purpose of protecting the rights of employees. The Act provides regulations of the payment of wages, terms of services, work hours, rest intervals, overtime work, opening and closing hours, closed days, holidays, leaves, maternity leave and benefits, work conditions, rules for employment of children, records maintenance, etc.

Definitions

Commercial Establishment means a commercial or trading or banking or Insurance establishment, an establishment or administrative service in which the persons employed are mainly engaged in official work, hotel, restaurant, boarding, or eating house, cafe or any other refreshment house, theatre or any other place of public amusement or entertainment and includes such establishment as the State Government may, by notification, declare to be a commercial establishment for the purposes of this Act;

Establishment means a shop or a commercial establishment;

Shop means any premises where any trade or business is carried on or where service are rendered to customers and includes offices, store rooms, godowns 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.

Registration

Establishment existing on the date on which this Act comes into force, within thirty days from the date on which the Act comes into force, and New Establishments, on the date the establishments commences its work, within thirty days shall send to the Inspector of the area concerned, a statement in the prescribed form, together with such fees as may be prescribed, containing:

• the name of the employer arid the manager, if any;
• the postal address of the establishment;
• the name, if any, of the establishment;
• the category of the establishment, that is whether it be a shop, commercial establishment, hotel, restaurant, cafe, boarding or eating house, theatre or other place of public amusement of entertainment; and
• such other particulars as may be prescribed.

No adolescent shall be allowed to work in any employment for more than six hours in a day.

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 Chief Inspector who shall, after such enquiry as may be prescribed, decide the category of such establishment and his decision shall be final for the purpose of this Act.

Exemptions

Nothing in this Act shall apply to:

• offices of, or under the Central or State Government or local authorities;
• offices under the Reserve Bank of India;
• establishments run by the owners themselves without employing any employee or establishments in which only members of employer's family are employed;
• establishments for the treatment or care of the Sick, infirm, destitute, mental unfit persons;
• persons occupying positions of management or employed in confidential capacity;
• prsons whose work is inherently intermittent such as travellers or care-takers;
• persons directly engaged in preparatory or complementary work such as clearing or forwarding clerks responsible for the despatch of goods;
• fairs, or bazars for the sale of work for charitable or other purposes for which no private profit is derived; and
• libraries at which the business of lending books or periodicals is not carried on for purposes of gain other than that of making profits for charitable, philanthropic, religious of educational objects.

Compliances

References

• Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1956
• Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishments Rules, 1958
• Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2018
• Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Rules, 2019
• Odisha Labour Department - E Services