The Jammu and Kashmir Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1966 and its accompanying Rules, 1968 apply to all shops and commercial establishments in areas notified by the Jammu and Kashmir Government. The Act protects employees’ rights by regulating wage payment, terms of service, work hours, rest intervals, overtime, opening and closing hours, closed days, holidays, leave (including maternity leave and benefits), working conditions, the employment of children, and record-keeping.
Key Definitions
Establishment means a shop, commercial establishment, residential hotel, restaurant, eating house, theatre, or other place of public amusement or entertainment to which the Act applies, along with any other premises the Government notifies as an establishment in the Government Gazette.
Shop means any premises where goods are sold — retail, wholesale, or both — or where services are rendered to customers. This includes offices, storerooms, godowns, warehouses, or workplaces connected to that trade or business, whether on the same premises or elsewhere. It excludes factories, commercial establishments, residential hotels, restaurants, eating houses, theatres, other places of public amusement or entertainment, and shops attached to a factory where employees already receive benefits under the Jammu and Kashmir Factories Act, 1957.
Registration
Every establishment covered by the Act must register within thirty days of the Act applying to it. The employer sends the area Inspector a statement, in the prescribed form and with the prescribed fees, containing:
- The name of the employer and manager, if any
- The establishment’s postal address
- The establishment’s name, if it has one
- The category of establishment — shop, commercial establishment, residential hotel, restaurant, eating house, theatre, or other place of public amusement or entertainment
- Any other prescribed particulars
Employers who couldn’t submit this statement earlier because the prescribed form and fee hadn’t yet been notified — before the Jammu and Kashmir Shops and Establishment (Amendment) Act, 1970 — had thirty days from that Act’s commencement to do so.
On receiving the statement and fees, and once satisfied it’s correct, the Inspector registers the establishment in the register of establishments and issues the employer a registration certificate in the prescribed form. This certificate must be displayed prominently at the establishment.
If the employer and Inspector disagree about which category an establishment falls into, the Inspector refers the matter to the Labour Commissioner, whose decision — reached after whatever inquiry they consider appropriate — is final.
The registration certificate must be renewed by 31 March each year, on payment of the prescribed fee. Employers can instead renew for up to three years at a time, and a thirty-day grace period applies to renewals.