Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958
No: 15 Dated: May, 01 1958
The Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958
Punjab Act No. 15 of 1958
An Act to provide for the regulation of conditions of work and employment in shops and commercial establishments.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Punjab in the Ninth Year of the Republic of India as follows :
1. Short title, extent, commencement and application. - (1) This Act may be called the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958.
(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Punjab.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint in this behalf.
(4) It shall apply in the first instance to the areas specified in the Schedule, but Government may by notification direct that it shall also apply to such other area and on such date as may be specified in the notification.
2. Definitions. - (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -
(i) "closed" means not open for the service of any customer or for any other purpose whatsoever relating to business;
(ii) "close day" means the day of the week on which a shop or commercial establishment remains closed;
(iii) "closing hour" means the hour at which a shop or commercial establishment closes;
(iv) "commercial establishment" means any premises wherein, any business, trade or profession is carried on for profit, and includes journalistic or printing establishment and premises in which business of banking, insurance, stocks and shares, brokerage or produce exchange is carried on or which is used as hotel, restaurant, boarding or eating-house, theatre, cinema or other place of public entertainment or any other place which the Government may declare, by notification in the official Gazette, to be a commercial establishment for the purposes of this Act;
(v) "day" means the period of twenty-four hours beginning at mid- night :
Provided that in the case of any employee whose hours of work extend beyond mid-night, day means the period of twenty-four hours beginning from the time when such employment commences;
(vi) "employee" means a person wholly or principally employed in, or in connection with, an establishment, whether working on permanent, periodical, contract or piece-rate wages or on commission basis even though he receives no reward for his labour, but does not include a member of the employer's family;
(vii) "employer" means a person having charge of or owning or having, ultimate control over the affairs of an establishment and includes member of the family of an employer, a manager, agent or other person acting in the general management or control of the establishment;
(viii) "establishment" means a shop or a commercial establishment;
(ix) "factory" has the meaning assigned to it in the Factories Act, 1948;
(x) "family" in relation to an employer, means -
(i) spouse;
(ii) children and step-children; and
(iii) parents, sisters and brothers if residing with and wholly dependent upon him;
(xi) "festival" means any festival which Government may, by notification, declare to be a festival for the purpose of this Act;
(xii) "Government" means the Punjab Government;
(xiii) "hours of work" or "working hours" means the time during which the persons employed are at the disposal of the employer exclusive of any interval allowed for rest and meals;
(xiv) "Inspector" means an Inspector appointed under this Act;
(xv) "leave" means leave provided for in section 14;
(xvi) "manager", in relation to an establishment where five or more persons are employed or an establishment whose owner does not ordinarily carry on the business personally, means a person declared as such by the employer in the prescribed manner;
(xvii) "night" means a period of at least twelve consecutive hours which shall include the interval between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
(xviii)"opened" in relation to a shop or commercial establishment whose entrance is the only entrance to the residence, means opened for the service of any customer or for any business connected with the establishment;
(xix) "opening hour" means the hour at which an establishment opens;
(xx) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(xxi) "prescribed authority" means the authority prescribed under the rules made under this Act;
(xxi-a) "quarter" means a period of three months commencing on the first day of January, first day of April, first day of July and first day of October, every year;
(xxii) "retail trade or business" includes the business of a barber or hair-dresser, the sale of refreshments or intoxicating liquors, and retail sales by auction;
(xxiii) "register of establishments" means a register maintained for the registration of establishments under this Act;
(xxiv) "registration certificate" means a certificate showing the registration of an establishment;
(xxv) "shop" means any premises where any trade or business is carried on or where services are rendered to customers and includes offices, store-rooms, godowns, sale depots 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 (LXIII of 1948);
(xxvi) "spread over" means the period between the commencement and the termination of work of an employee on any day;
(xxvii) "wages" shall have the meaning assigned to it in the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 (IV of 1936);
(xxviii) "wage period" means the period after which the wages of an employed person shall be paid;
(xxix) "week" means the period between midnight on Saturday and midnight on the following Saturday;
(xxx) "young person" means a person who has attained the age of fourteen but has not attained the age of eighteen years; and
(xxxi) "year" means a year commencing on the first day of April.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, any employment in the service of the employer of an establishment upon any work, whether within the establishment or outside it, which relates to or is connected with or is ancillary to the business carried on at the establishment shall be deemed to be employment about the business of the establishment.