Bihar Shop and Establishment Act, 1953

The article is written by Vanshika Shukla. It aims to provide an overview of the Act, its key definitions, how inspectors are appointed under this Act, which sectors or offices are exempt from this Act, and what penalties must be imposed in the event of a violation of its provisions.

Every working area in India has its own rules & regulations in order to regulate the functioning of that area, be it the companies, cooperatives, or any other working body. Although certain work areas such as shops don’t have central legislation, every state regulates the shops by their own act.

In Bihar, particularly, the working of shops and establishments has been regulated by the Bihar Shop and Establishments Act, 1953 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). The Act received the assent of the President on 17th March 1954 and has been in force since 15th February 1955. The Act contains 41 Sections and is read along with the Bihar Shops and Establishment Rules, 1955, which was formulated after utilising the rule-making powers conferred to the State government under Section 40 of the Act. Since its formation, the Act has been amended three times; first in the year 1961, then in 1975 and finally in the year 2007.

The Act shall apply to the whole state of Bihar. The Act was enacted for the purpose of defending the rights of the employees working in the shops. The Act establishes rules & regulations for the payment of wages, terms of services, working hours, rest intervals for employees, overtime schedule, opening and closing hours, closed days, holidays, leaves, maternity leave and benefits, working conditions, rules regarding the employment of children, young people, records maintenance, etc.

According to the Preamble of the Act, the main object of the Act is to regulate the conditions of work and employment in shops and other establishments in Bihar. Hence, the Act aims to ensure a non-exploitative work environment for the workers and employees in these establishments, protect the rights of these workers, and regulate their conditions of work, wages, leaves, benefits provided to them, etc.

Section 2 of the Bihar Shops and Establishment Act, 1953, defines several terms. The important ones have been discussed below:

Child: According to Section 2(1A), ‘child’ refers to a person who is below fourteen years of age.
Closed: According to Section 2(2), ‘closed’ refers to not being open for the service of any client or company associated with the establishment. In the case of Pathak (D.V.) vs. Ramchandra, (1960), the term “Closed” has been defined as closed for customer service.
Section 2(3) defines the term ‘day’ as a 24-hour period beginning at midnight. However, if an employee’s job begins before or extends past midnight, the term “day” shall refer to a 24-hour period starting at the time of employment.
Employee: According to Section 2(4), an employee refers to a person who works full-time or part-time for an establishment for payment, wages including salary, rewards, or commission. This definition shall also apply to:
- Apprentice;
- Persons employed in a factory but aren’t workers under the Factories Act, 1948 ;
- Employees who have been dismissed, discharged or retrenched for any reason whatsoever;

The definition doesn’t apply to members of the employer’s family.

In the case of S.L. Agarwal vs. The General Manager, Hindustan Steel Ltd. (1969), a person holding a civil office under the State or Central Government is not considered an ’employee’. Such a person is a person who serves or is employed by the State and is subject to its administrative authority.

Establishment: Section 2(6) defines the term ‘establishment’ as an organisation that carries on any business, trade, or profession or any activity which is related, incidental or supplementary to a business, trade or profession. It includes
- Administrative/ clerical services with regard to that organisation,
- A store, restaurant, residential hotel, theatre or any place of public amusement or entertainment; and
- Any other organisation declared as an establishment to be applicable within the Act by the State government by a notification.

The definition doesn’t include a ‘motor transport undertaking’ defined in Section 2(g) of the Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961.

In the case of Ram Kumar Misra vs. State of Bihar (1983), a writ petition was filed by the Free Legal Aid Committee, Bhagalpur, based on a letter addressed to Ram Kumar Misra, President of Free Legal Aid Committee, Bhagalpur. The petition stated that the workmen employed in two ferries, one of them at Bhagalpur and the other at Sultanganj, operated by Respondent No. 5, were not receiving the minimum wage required by law under the Minimum Wages Act of 1948. Respondent No. 5 contended that the Minimum Wages Act was not applicable to these two ferries.

The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the ferry workers. The key point was whether the ferries qualified as “establishments” under the Minimum Wages Act.

The Act referenced the definition of “establishment” from Section 2(6) of the Bihar Shops and Establishments Act. The definition covered businesses that ferry passengers across the Ganges, bringing the ferry operations under the Minimum Wages Act. Since the amendment to Entry 27 of the schedule to the Minimum Wages Act specifically applied to establishments not covered elsewhere in the Schedule, the ferries were included. This meant the workers were entitled to the minimum wage set out in the relevant notifications.

Opened: Section 2(10A) defines the term “opened” as the establishment being open for service to clients or businesses associated with the establishment.

In the case of State vs. S. R. Choudhary (1960), the Court defined the term “Open” as open for carrying out the purposes for which the establishment exists.

Period of work: As per Section 2(10B), the term “period of work” refers to the time employees are available to their employer.
Shop: Section 2(16) refers to the term ‘shop’, which has been defined as a place where retail or wholesale goods are sold or services are provided to the customers. In regard to its sales or services, the shop also includes an officer, store-room, godown, warehouse and workplace, which may be located in the same location or elsewhere. It excludes restaurants, residential hotels, dining establishments, theatres or other public places of amusement or entertainment.
Week: According to Section 2(21), “Week” refers to a period of seven days commencing at midnight on Saturday.

It’s to be noted that nothing in this Act will impact the privileges or rights to which an employee in any establishment may be entitled under any other law currently in force or pursuant to any award, agreement, contract, custom, or usage relevant to such establishment if such right or privilege is considered more advantageous to him than any of the right or privilege conferred upon him by this Act.

Section 6 of the Act specifies that the State Government reserves the power to create rules governing the registration of establishments or any type of establishments, as well as the manner and costs payable for such registration or renewal.

Rule 3 of the Bihar Shops and Establishment Rules, 1953 further explains that an employer shall submit an application to the Inspection Officer within thirty days of application for registration of the establishment.

The application shall consist of the following points as stated in Form I of the Rules;

Name of the Establishment
Type of Establishment
Full postal address of the Establishment
Location of the establishment
Whether the establishment is registered under the Bihar Sales Tax Act, 1947 (The act has been replaced by several legislations. At present, sales tax in Bihar has been administered under the Central Sales Tax Act,1956 and Bihar Finance Act, 1981)
Maximum number of persons employed by the establishment on any day of the calendar year
Name, designation and permanent address of the employer
Amount of fees paid along with the Chalan number
Date

The employer must sign the application and shall be accompanied by a challan or crossed Indian Postal Order in favour of the Chief Inspecting Officer as proof of payment of the registration fee. The registration fee will vary depending on the maximum number of employers employed by the company on any given day throughout the calendar year.

If the Inspecting Officer is satisfied with the application’s statements, the establishment will be registered in the Register of Establishments and issued a certificate of registration. Rule 8 states that all the statements made by the employer must be accurate. If any statement turns out to be incorrect, the employer shall be imposed a fine that may extend up to one hundred rupees.

Each establishment shall be issued a registration mark and number, which will be marked distinctly on the certificate of registration. The rules mandate that every employer must prominently display this certificate of registration in their establishment.

Rule 3(7) sets out that in the event of any discrepancies or a difference of opinion between the employer and the Inspecting Officer regarding registration of establishment and payment of fees, the matter shall be referred to the Chief Inspecting Officer, whose decision shall be final.

How long can an employer make an employee work? Does the employee get any breaks between? Does the employer provide any breaks? We all have a common understanding that any employee or worker can only work for a certain amount of time. This time shall variably differ in accordance with the place of work (establishment), and accordingly, wages, overtime hours, leaves, etc., are decided for that work. Section 7 to Section 11 of this Act further provides with the provisions relating to working hours.

Opening & closing hours of the establishments

According to Section 7 of the Bihar Shops & Establishment Act, 1953, no establishments shall be opened before 8 A.M. and closed after 10 P.M. Although if a customer is being served or is waiting to be served at the closing hour, the establishment has the right to serve them during the quarter of an hour immediately following such an hour. In simple words, the establishment may serve the customer for 15 minutes after the closing hour.

However, in accordance with Section 7(2), the opening and closing hours aren’t fixed and shall vary. The Bihar State Government has the right to adjust the opening/ closing hours depending on the establishment, area or time of the year.

However, Section 7(3) of the Act states that there is an exemption from the provisions. It states that when an establishment operates two or more distinct trades or businesses, the requirements outlined in the section might apply differently depending on the nature of each trade or business. If any of the trades or businesses conducted within the establishment are such that they were the only trade or business conducted there, the provisions of this section would not apply. The section might not apply to those specific trades or businesses. In such a case, the particular trade or business that would normally be exempt if it were the only activity in the establishment will remain exempt from the operation of the section, even if other trades or businesses are conducted in the same establishment and may be subject to the rules of this section.

Example: A building consists of a clothing store and a restaurant. The clothing store must follow the provisions of the Bihar Shop and Establishment Act, but the restaurant would not have to do so as the act doesn’t apply to any restaurants.

In Benedicts Laboratory vs. State of Bihar (1983), the court had no choice but to dismiss the case against the petitioner. In the circumstances where the Act does not disclose anything about police inspections and how to start a case under the said Act, the commencement of the procedure at the instance of the police is incorrect and without jurisdiction. As a result, police officers (unless explicitly authorised under this Act) cannot enforce the shop’s closing hours or file a complaint for such a violation.

Prohibitions with regard to sale hours

Section 8 of the Act prohibits anyone from conducting the sale of any type of goods at any place (shop or not) before the opening hours or after the closing hours in accordance with the timings given under Section 7. Although the section exempts footpaths and street hawkers till 11 P.M. and the newspaper hawkers completely.

Working, over-time and interval hours in establishments

As per Section 9 of the Act, no employer shall have the right to force or allow any employee to work for more than nine hours in a day and or more than forty-eight hours in a week in an establishment. The working hour shall not include the time given to the employees (also known as the interval) for relaxation or for taking meals, and this interval should not be less than one hour for any day, including all the activities.

Additionally, Section 10 states that no establishment shall require or let any of its employees work for more than five hours continuously on any day unless they have received a minimum half-hour interval. Provided that no more than one such interval of rest is allowed during the whole working period of any employee on any day.

However, any adult employee will be allowed to work in the establishment for any period exceeding the 9 hours fixed under Section 9 if the establishment agrees to compensate employees for the excess time worked with an overtime wage. This wage shall be calculated in accordance with the rate fixed in Section 21. Still, Section 11 of the Act further clarifies that for any adult employee, the combined working hours and rest periods shall not exceed 12 hours on any day.

Along with that, the overall number of hours worked, including overtime, will not exceed 10 hours/ day and 54 hours/ week, and the aggregate hours of overtime work should not be more than 150 hours in a year. However, an advance intimation of at least 3 days in this regard needs to be submitted in a prescribed manner to the Chief Inspector or any other officer authorised by the State Government.

Section 13 of the Act states that no child under the age of fourteen years may be forced or allowed to work as an employee in any institution to which this Act applies. According to Section 11 of the Act, the maximum duration of working and rest hours combined on a single day for a child employee is eight hours.

Under Section 2(22), ‘young person’ refers to a person who isn’t a child but hasn’t completed the age of eighteen years. Section 14 of the Act states that no employer has the right to force any young person or woman to work (whether as an employee or otherwise) in any establishment to which this Act applies beyond the working hours, i.e., before 8 A.M. or after 10 p.m.

Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, no young person will be allowed to work for more than 7 hours/ day or more than 42 hours/ week. Section 15 further specifies that no young person shall be allowed to work in an establishment for more than four hours continuously on any day unless he has had an interval of at least one hour for rest and meals. Section 11 additionally states that in cases of employing young persons, the working period and rest period combined shall not exceed 10 hours.

As stated in Section 2(10), Chapter IV of the Act discusses Leave.

Section 16, given under Chapter IV of the Act, states that any employee who has worked in an establishment for two hundred forty days or more of a calendar year and hasn’t engaged in any illegal strike is entitled to an annual leave within the subsequent calendar year. The number of leaves shall be calculated at the rate of one leave for every twenty days of work in the previous year, and any holidays falling during or at the end of the leave period will be excluded.

Exclusions: Among the days counted for the two hundred forty days of work threshold, there will be certain days which will be counted as working days, but no leave will be earned for them. These include days of layoff or lockout, or with regard to female employees, days of maternity leave (which should not exceed 12 weeks).

As per Section 16A of the Bihar Shop and Establishment Act, the employees regulated under the act are also provided additional leave entitlements. These are:

Casual Leave with full pay (12 days in a Calendar year)
Sick Leave with half pay on production of medical certificate (12 days in a Calendar year)

However, it is important to know that these additional leaves aren’t accumulative, i.e., they cannot be carried forward to the next calendar year if not utilised within the current year.

Despite the provisions stated above, Section 18 provides the State Government authority to amend the total number of leaves as well as the minimum number of days of working per leave ratio with regard to certain establishments or certain classes of establishments as may be specified in giving out a notification.

Section 18A further provides the State Government with the right to exempt certain establishments from all or any provisions with regard to leave by passing a written order. However, in this regard, it is necessary that the authorities are satisfied that the benefits provided by the establishment aren’t less favourable than the provisions given within this Act.

Application for leave

As per Section 16(6), in order to apply for a leave, the employee must apply in writing fifteen days in advance from the starting date of leave. The employee must ensure that the number of leave instalments should not exceed three.

In case the application is rejected

If the employer refuses the application for leave despite its compliance with all the requirements given under Section 16(6), the employer will have to provide a sufficient reason to justify the refusal, and this must be recorded in writing. Employees also have the right to appeal against such refusals.

Apart from that, if the leave is refused when the employee has accumulated forty-five days or more of leave credit, he/ she will be entitled to compensation, which will be equivalent to the wages the employee would have received during the tenure of the refused leave. This compensation amount will be in addition to the normal wages paid during this period. However, after the compensation is paid, the employee’s leave balance will be decreased by the number of days for which the compensation was received.

Holidays at establishments

The term ‘holiday’ has been defined under Section 2(8) as a particular day on which an establishment shall stay closed or a day on which an employee shall be given a holiday in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Section 12 mandates that every employee must be given a full day off per week. It also stipulates that no employer shall have the right to deduct their employee’s wages for a weekly holiday or for any day on which it has remained closed as a holiday.

In the case of a daily wage employee, he shall be paid the wage of the day on which the establishment remains closed or the day on which the employee is on his weekly holiday unless he is absent on the day preceding such day.

In the case of Workmen of A.E.I.B. Corpn. vs. Mgt. of A.E.I.B. Corpn (1985), the court ruled that Sundays and other paid holidays would be taken into account for the purpose of counting the total number of days on which the employee might be considered to have worked.

Other holidays

As per Section 12A, every employee in an establishment is to be allowed:

Holiday on full pay on the Independence Day, the Republic Day and Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday each year, and
Other holidays on full pay up to 5 days a year, in connection with such festivals, as the state government may declare from time to time. An employee required to work on any such holiday is to be paid remuneration at double the rate of his normal wages calculated by the hour.

‘Wages’ is commonly known as an amount that is paid to any worker or employee by any employer for their efforts, hard work, etc. They have put into working on a particular job. Wages under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, refers to ‘all remunerations, capable of being expressed in terms of money, which would, if the term of the contract of employment, express or implied, were fulfilled, be payable to a person employed in respect of his employment or work done in such employment.’

Calculation of wages during leave period

In accordance with Section 16, any employee working in an establishment shall be entitled to a payment rate equivalent to the daily average of his full-time earnings. These earnings also include attendance bonuses, efficiency bonuses, and other incentive bonuses. It also includes dearness allowance and the cash equivalent of any advantage accruing by the sale of foodgrains and other articles at concessional rates for the days on which the employee worked during the month immediately preceding his leave. Overtime earnings and yearly bonuses are excluded from this calculation.

The State Government holds the authority to specify how the cash equivalent of the benefits derived from the concessional sale of foodgrains and other articles to employees will be calculated. The State Government may additionally designate registrars that are required to be maintained in an establishment in order to comply with the provisions of this section.

Payment of wages

In accordance with Section 24 of the Act, every employer shall have an obligation to pay all the required wages to his employees. The wages shall be paid in the form of current coins, current notes, or both.

This payment shall be made on a working day at or near the place of work and during working hours. Every employer also has to fix a period for the payment of such wages, known as the wage period, and this shouldn’t exceed one month.

The wages of all the employees must be paid within seven days of the last day of this wage period. In case the employee is absent till the last possible day, then the wages shall be required to be paid within three working days from the day the employee returns to work, or the day he demands payment.

According to Section 21, any employee who works beyond the specified work hours, i.e., beyond nine hours on any day and more than forty-eight hours in a week, shall be entitled to an overtime wage, and this wage shall be twice the ordinary rate of his wages. As per this act, the term ‘ordinary rate of wages with regard to an employee shall include the basic wage along with allowances provided to the employee and exclude any bonuses,

In the case of Haryana Apex Co-operative Bank vs. Registrar (1987), where an employer prescribes normal working hours less than the maximum permitted by the statute and seeks to take work in excess of its own prescribed number of hours of work, the employer is obligated to pay overtime wages at any rate higher than the ordinary rate of wages. As previously stated, defined working hours are the standard period of labour, and anything in excess of them is overtime work.

Section 23 ensures that the employee whose employment is terminated by or by the order of the employee, then the wages earned shall be paid to the employee within two working days from the termination date.

Advance payment

Employees who are on earned leave are also entitled to an advance payment of the earnings for the half period of absence as well as the wages for the wage period immediately preceding the leave. The remaining half of the salary will be paid whenever the employee resumes his/ her duty.

However, as per Section 22, if any employee is on an earned leave of less than five days due to a child or less than four days for any other case, he must be paid for the period of absence before it begins.

Similarly, the wages for sick leave are paid concurrently with wages for the first wage period after the employee’s return to work.

Deduction of wages

Section 28 forbids employers from being allowed to deduct any amount from the employee’s wage except in cases prescribed by law. In case any employee works in contradiction to this Act and any amount of the wage payments are delayed, deducted, or is due, then the employee or any legal practitioner or any authorised agent or any officer of a registered trade union or any Inspecting Officer shall have the right to make an application to the prescribed authority.

The authority, upon receiving the application, shall hear the application and direct a remedy for the parties. The remedy includes;

Refund of the deducted amount,
Payment of delayed wage,
Compensation to the employee should not exceed ten times the amount deducted in the first case and not exceed ten rupees in other cases.

However, no monetary compensation will be provided in cases of delayed wages caused by a bona fide error, an emergency, exceptional circumstances in which the person in charge of paying the wages fails to exercise reasonable diligence to make prompt payment, or the employed person’s inability to apply for or accept payment.

By the Employer

Section 26 of the Act prevents the employer from dismissing, discharging or terminating any employee who has been in his employment continuously for a period of not less than six months. The termination shall be acceptable in only two scenarios:

Reasonable Cause,
The employee has been given one-month prior notice or, in lieu of that notice, one month’s wages.

Every employee who has been dismissed, discharged or terminated has the right to file a complaint in writing to the prescribed authority within a time period of 90 days after receiving the order of dismissal or termination on the following grounds;

No reasonable ground for termination,
No notice was served to the employee,
The employee isn’t guilty of any misconduct, as stated by the employer,
No compensation was paid to the employee before the termination.

The prescribed authority reserves the power to condone any delay in filing such a complaint if it is satisfied that there was sufficient reason for not making the application within the prescribed time.

The authority shall issue a show cause notice to the employer in relation to the complaint filed by the employee, seeking justification for the reasons for termination, record briefly the evidence presented by both parties, hear them, and pass orders giving reasons for the same after conducting any necessary investigations. When granting such an order, the authority should have the power to provide relief to the employee in the form of reinstatement, monetary compensation, or both. The judgement of the specified authority will be final and binding on both the employer and the employee.

In the case of Krishna Kumar Sharma vs. State of Bihar (1984), after three years of service, a muster-roll daily rated workman wasn’t permitted to take attendance. After 18 months, he received a notice of termination from the employer. The complainant filed a complaint with the Labour Court within a few days, but it was dismissed by the Labour Court, taking the period when he was not allowed to sign the attendance into account for the purpose of limitation. The High Court quashed the Labour Court’s decision, ruling that if there is no written order of dismissal or discharge and the workman is not notified or communicated with, there is no limitation on the petition of complaint.

By the Employee

Section 27 of the Act prohibits any employee from terminating his employment unless he has given at least one-month prior notice to his employer. In cases where an employee contravenes this, the employer shall have the right to forfeit any unpaid wages of the employee for a period of fifteen days.

According to Section 29, the State Government appoints a person as the Inspecting Officer in order to oversee and enforce the provisions of this Act in the jurisdictions it applies to. The State Government may also appoint a Chief Inspecting Officer who shall have additional powers beyond the powers given to an Inspecting Officer and exercise them throughout the jurisdiction.

It’s a mandatory requirement of the act that in order to appoint an Inspecting Officer and a Chief Inspecting Officer, the State Government shall have to put up an official Gazette notification.

Who all can be appointed as the Inspection Officer

Section 29 states that Administrative officials, the District Magistrate, the Additional District Magistrate of Saharsa, the Additional Deputy Commissioners of Dhanbad and Singhbhum and apart from that, every Sub-divisional Magistrate shall be eligible to be appointed as an ex-officio Inspecting Officer within the limits of the respective jurisdiction.

Section 31 of the Act states that every inspector must be employed to be considered as a public servant within the ambit of Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

Powers of an Inspecting Officer

Section 30 states the certain powers provided to the Inspecting officer within this jurisdiction.

An Inspector Officer has the power to enter into any establishments in order to inspect the records, registers, or notices to be maintained under this Act or its Rules. They may only enter the establishment during the prescribed hours, although this may be ignored if the Inspection Officer has reasonable doubt that the Employer is infringing on the Act or its Rules.
The Officer has the authority to seize any records, registers or notices maintained within this Act or under its Rules. He may also examine and take copies of any of these documents that he considers are significantly related to an offence committed by the employer. It should also be noted that ‘offence’ refers to the offences committed under this Act.
The Inspector also has the power to take a statement of any person on the spot or elsewhere as he may deem necessary for carrying out the objectives of this Act. Provided that no person shall be forced to answer any question or give any evidence tending to convict himself.

Duties of an Inspecting Officer

According to Rule 26, an Inspecting Officer shall, with the objective of enforcing the provisions of the Act and these rules, have the following powers;

The power to inspect and examine premises, registers, documents, and notifications to ensure compliance with the Act, rules, and orders issued by the government.
An Inspecting Officer shall be responsible for prosecuting, conducting and defending any complaints or other proceedings arising under the Act or in regard to the discharge of his duties as an Inspecting Officer.
Apart from the above powers, he shall also ensure at every inspection that;
- The register, records, and notice are required to be maintained and to be displayed under the Act, or these rules are properly maintained and displayed;
- The rest intervals and the holidays are given as stated under the Act;
- The Act’s limitations on working hours and spreadover are not exceeded;
- The provisions of the Act relating to the payment for overtime work are followed;
- No child under 12 years works in any establishment;
- Opening and Closing hours of the establishment are followed;
- The defects pointed out in the previous inspections have been resolved, and previously issued orders have been complied with.

Penalty for obstructing an Inspection Officer

According to Section 32, any person who:

Voluntarily obstructs an Inspecting Officer exercising powers within this Act or any person lawfully assisting the officer
who fails to comply with any lawful direction made by an Inspecting Officer without any reasonable cause

shall be punished with six months imprisonment, or a fine of up to two hundred and fifty rupees, or both.

In the case of Madhav Prasad Agrawal vs. State of Bihar (1985), the term ‘obstruction’ has been defined as an overt act of violence or a display of violence. According to the court, an employee’s refusal to share the identity and address of the employer during an inspection by authorities under the Act is just non-cooperation, not obstruction.

Role of an employer in the inspecting process

According to Section 33, every employer shall maintain records and register and display such notices as prescribed by the Act. These documents shall be produced before the Inspection Officer for inspection.

As per Rule 29, every employer shall have to maintain an Inspecting Officers’ Visit and Inspection Book. In this book, the Inspecting Officer shall enter observations about any shortcomings discovered during an examination of the establishment. This book must be presented to the Inspecting Officer whenever necessary.

As per Section 34, any employer who violates any provisions of this Act or any Rule or Order issued thereunder shall, if no further penalty has been imposed, be fined up to two hundred and fifty rupees for the first offence and five hundred rupees for each subsequent offence following the first conviction.

If the person violating the provisions of this Act is a company or a partnership firm, every director, partner, manager, or secretary thereof shall be considered guilty unless he has proof that the violation occurred without his knowledge or that he displayed all due diligence to such violation.

According to Section 36, a court can only examine violations under this Act if a written complaint is filed describing the facts of the offence. This complaint must be filed by either an Inspecting Officer or an individual authorised by the State Government. The time limit for filing a complaint is within six months of the alleged crime date.

The court may accept complaints filed after the six-month term for crimes, including violations of sections 16, 16A, 26, and 28 of the Act. However, the court must be given written grounds for the delay and convinced that the complainant had a valid basis for not submitting the case within the original six-month time frame.

Only a Magistrate of the First Class (or above) can take cognizance of or trial offences punishable under this Act. Lower courts do not have the jurisdiction to address these issues.

The Act was enacted with the main aim of protecting employees’ rights and promoting social welfare. This Act also protects child labour by stating that children/ young people under the age of 14 are not permitted to work in shops or establishments. However, the act needs to be revised to preserve rights and provide some advantages to female employees working in establishments throughout the state of Bihar.

Furthermore, each state in India has its own Shops and Establishments Act, taking into account the several variations between states, i.e., weather, culture, and societal norms, which leads to the conclusion as to why India cannot have a single Shops and Establishments Act.

What is the Bihar Shops and Establishment Act,1953?

The Bihar Shop and Establishment Act, 1953 is an Act formed to regulate the working conditions of employees in shops and other establishments present in Bihar.

What are the rules deployed in the Act with regard to employment of children and women?

According to the Act, no employer shall compel or authorise a child below fourteen years to work as an employee. The Act further entails that no person under the age of 18 or woman should be required or authorised to work in any establishment to which this Act applies before 8 A.M. or after 10 P.M.

How many hours of overtime is permissible under the Act?

As per Section 9 of the Act, a worker may work overtime up to 10 hours, including the normal hours of work in a day or a total of 150 hours of overtime in a year.

Is it mandatory to have a Shop and Establishment License in Bihar?

Yes, the establishments falling under the Act must register. The Municipal Corporation of Bihar requires registration for all establishments falling under its jurisdiction. The registration procedure is stated in the Bihar Shops and Establishments Rules, 1955.

What are the rules for applying for a leave of absence under the Act?

The Act mandates employers not to refuse an application for leave unless there is a legitimate reason to do so. When an employer refuses to allow an employee to take time off, the employee has the right to appeal to the appropriate authorities, who may also grant compensation if the refusal was due to a lack of sufficient cause.