The Sikkim Shops and Establishments Act, 1983
The Sikkim Shops and Establishments Act, 1983 and the Rules made under it in 1984 apply to shops and commercial establishments throughout the State of Sikkim. They regulate wage payment, terms of employment, hours of work, rest intervals, overtime, opening and closing hours, closed days, leave, maternity benefit, working conditions and safety, the employment of children, and the records an employer must keep.
Key Definitions
- Commercial establishment: an establishment carrying on a business, trade or profession, or work connected with one. It includes societies registered under the Sikkim Co-operative Societies Act, 1978, charitable and other trusts, advertising, commission, forwarding and commercial agencies, insurance and joint stock companies, banks, brokers' offices and exchanges. Factories, shops, residential hotels, restaurants, eating houses, theatres and places of public amusement are not commercial establishments; the Act treats them separately.
- Shop: premises where goods are sold by retail or wholesale, or services are rendered to customers, including the offices, storerooms, godowns and warehouses used for that trade. The same exclusions apply.
- Establishment: a shop, commercial establishment, residential hotel, restaurant, eating house, theatre or place of public amusement or entertainment, and any other establishment the State Government brings under the Act by notification.
Registration of Establishments
- An employer must register the establishment within 30 days of the date on which the Act begins to apply to it.
- The application is a statement sent to the Chief Inspector giving the names of the employer and the manager, the postal address, the name of the establishment if any, its category (shop, commercial establishment, residential hotel, restaurant, eating house, theatre or place of public amusement or entertainment) and the other particulars the Rules require.
- Once the Chief Inspector is satisfied and the fee is paid, a registration certificate is issued in the prescribed form. It must be displayed prominently at the establishment.
- The certificate is valid until the end of the year in which it is issued. To renew it, apply at least 15 days before it expires, with the prescribed fee.
- If the employer and the Inspector disagree about which category the establishment falls in, the question goes to the Chief Inspector, whose decision is final.