Chandigarh, December 22 — The Haryana Vidhan Sabha today passed the Haryana Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2025, a major reform initiative aimed at reducing the compliance burden on smaller establishments while promoting economic growth and ensuring continued protection of workers.
The Amendment Act increases the threshold for applicability of registration and other regulatory provisions from establishments employing zero workers to those employing 20 or more workers. Establishments with less than 20 employees will no longer be required to obtain a registration certificate under the Act and will only need to provide an intimation of their business. This step is intended to ease regulatory pressure on small businesses, encourage entrepreneurship, promote job creation, and eliminate fear of non-compliance.
The Act also provides greater operational flexibility by increasing the permissible daily working hours from the existing nine hours to ten hours, inclusive of rest intervals, subject to a maximum of forty-eight hours in any week. This measure will help establishments manage peak demand, emergencies, and staff shortages without disruption, while maintaining safeguards on weekly working hours.
To address exceptional work pressure and enhance workers’ earning opportunities, the overtime limit within a quarter has been increased from 50 hours to 156 hours. This change will formalize overtime practices by ensuring that additional working hours are properly recorded and compensated, thereby helping to prevent exploitation of workers. Overtime work, however, will remain voluntary and not mandatory for employees.
In order to promote greater formalization in the job market, the Amendment Act makes the issuance of appointment letters and identity cards mandatory. This provision will create verified employment records, support skill mapping, improve welfare delivery, increase transparency, enhance employee retention, and contribute to ease of living for workers.
The Act further decriminalizes certain contraventions by removing the provision of imprisonment and retaining only monetary penalties. The maximum fine has been increased up to Rs 25000 to ensure effective enforcement without diluting the spirit of the law. This reform seeks to maintain a harmonious balance between the rights of workers and the interests of establishments.
The Haryana Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2025 reflects the Haryana Government’s commitment to creating a business-friendly environment, strengthening worker welfare, and driving sustainable economic growth through balanced and progressive reforms.
