The Haryana Assembly on Monday passed a bill increasing the daily working hours from nine to ten hours while retaining the overall weekly limit of 48 hours for employees of shops and private commercial establishments.
The Haryana Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Bill, 2025 has been passed to amend the Haryana Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958.
While Labour Minister Anil Vij said that the Bill aims to reduce the compliance burden on smaller establishments through reforms for promoting economic growth while ensuring continued protection for workers, Congress MLA Aditya Surjewala differed. Pointing to some of its provisions, he asked if it was ease of doing business or legalising “modern-day slavery”.
Minister Vij said that the Bill was beneficial for both workers and shopkeepers, and it was in the interest of workers as well as traders.
There is also a provision for an increase in the permissible limit of overtime work per quarter from 50 hours to 156 hours, enabling shops and commercial establishments to meet peak business demands more efficiently.
The Bill also seeks to increase the maximum period of continuous work without rest from five to six hours.
Surjewala moved an amendment which his party legislators backed to retain the existing nine-hour limit, but the House rejected it by voice vote.
Surjewala said that the Bill has the provision to increase the daily working hours from nine to ten while overtime has been proposed to be increased from 50 hours to 156, which, he said, would work out to two extra hours every day.
“Now, take 10 hours of daily work with two hours of overtime. If any person has to work 12 hours a day for six days a week, what time does it leave for himself or his family?” he said.
Surjewala asked whether it was ease of doing business or legalising modern-day slavery.
Vij told the House that the increase in threshold limit from zero employees to 20 or more employees in any establishment for registration and other regulatory provisions of the Bill in order to reduce compliance burden for smaller businesses, will encourage job creation and eliminate the fear of non-compliance.
Establishments with fewer than 20 workers will no longer need a registration certificate under the bill but they will only need to provide an intimation of their business, Vij said.
Earlier, every shopkeeper was required to register.
He pointed out that even today, in states like Karnataka, shopkeepers are required to register even if they do not have a single worker.
However, Surjewala claimed that over 80% of shops and establishments that have less than 20 workers would be excluded from the Act’s provisions.
Vij said that the increase in the daily hours of work from the existing nine hours to ten hours, inclusive of rest intervals, is subject to a maximum of 48 hours in any week. This measure aims to create greater economic activity, enhance employment opportunities and give establishments the flexibility to handle emergencies, peak demand or staff shortages without disruption.
Vij said before finalising this Bill, he studied data from states across India. In Haryana, registration has been mandated for establishments with 20 or more workers.
Similarly, in Maharashtra, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, registration is compulsory for establishments having 20 or more workers.
Likewise, the daily working hours are 10 hours in Haryana, as well as in Maharashtra, Punjab, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
The Bill was among the eight bills passed on the concluding day of the Winter session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha.
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The Bills included the Haryana Private Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2025; the Haryana Abadi Deh (Vesting, Recording and Resolving of Ownership Rights) Bill, 2025; and the Haryana Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025.
The Haryana Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill was passed to amend certain enactments for decriminalisation and rationalisation of offences to further improve trust-based governance for ease of living and ease of doing business.
The Haryana Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill had been introduced to reduce 164 minor criminal provisions in 42 state Acts across 17 departments by removing obsolete and redundant clauses, introducing civil penalties and administrative actions for minor technical and procedural lapses, and decriminalising minor and technical offences through the elimination of penal provisions.
