Haryana increases daily working hours, and enhances penalty provisions under shops and establishments legislation

At a glance

• Haryana has enacted the Haryana Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2025 (Haryana S&E Amendment Act), to amend the Haryana Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958 (Haryana S&E Act), which is deemed to have come into force from November 12, 2025.
• The Haryana S&E Amendment Act has repealed the Haryana Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025.
• Registration requirements have been correspondingly rationalised, with only establishments employing 20 or more employees now required to register, while the threshold for furnishing intimation of establishment details has been increased to establishments employing less than 20 employees, which earlier was applicable to establishments employing less than ten employees.
• The Haryana S&E Amendment Act revises the applicability framework by shifting the Haryana S&E Act’s coverage to establishments employing 20 or more employees and introduces greater flexibility in working time arrangements to enhance ease of doing business in the State.

We would like to express gratitude to JSA for their contribution on this publication.

The Haryana S&E Amendment Act marks a structural shift by limiting the applicability of the Haryana S&E Act to establishments employing 20 or more employees, as opposed to the earlier framework which applied to establishments employing up to 20 employees. Further, the registration requirement has been narrowed to cover only establishments meeting the threshold of 20 employees, while establishments employing less than 20 employees are required to comply through an intimation‑based mechanism, thereby reducing compliance obligations for smaller establishments.

From a working‑hours perspective, the Haryana S&E Amendment Act enhances operational flexibility by increasing the daily working hours limit from nine to ten hours and relaxing the requirement for rest intervals, now mandating a 30 minutes’ break after six hours of continuous work; instead of the earlier five hours. The overtime framework has undergone a substantial expansion, with the quarterly overtime cap increased from 50 hours to 156 hours, significantly widening the permissible range for workforce deployment during peak operational periods, providing greater flexibility to employers in working time arrangements.

The Haryana S&E Amendment Act also introduces new compliance obligations, including the mandatory issuance of appointment letters and identity cards to all employees, strengthening formality and documentation in employment relationships. From an enforcement standpoint, the Haryana S&E Amendment Act inclines towards stricter compliance by enhancing penalties: fines for first offence ranges between INR3,000 and INR10,000 (earlier, extendable up to INR100), for subsequent offences fines range between INR5,000 and INR25,000, and fine in case of continuous violations is at the rate of INR500 for every day it continues (earlier, it was extendable up to INR300 and maximum penalty for every subsequent offence within the same year was INR100). Employers operating in Haryana should therefore re‑evaluate their workforce structures, documentation practices and working‑hour models in light of the amended framework.