The Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act, 1947
The Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act, 1947 and the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Rules, 1948 apply to shops and commercial establishments in the areas of Tamil Nadu notified by the State Government. They regulate wage payment, terms of service, hours of work, rest intervals, overtime, closed days, holidays, leave, maternity leave and benefits, working conditions, the employment of children, and the records an employer must keep.
Key Definitions
- Shop: premises where trade or business is carried on or services are rendered to customers, including the offices, storerooms, godowns and warehouses used for that business. Restaurants, eating houses and commercial establishments are not shops.
- Commercial establishment: an establishment that is not a shop and carries on advertising, commission, forwarding or commercial agency work; the clerical department of a factory or industrial undertaking; an insurance or joint stock company, bank, broker's office or exchange; or any other establishment the State Government declares by notification.
- Establishment: a shop, commercial establishment, restaurant, eating house, residential hotel, theatre or other place of public amusement or entertainment, and any other establishment the State Government brings under the Act by notification.
Exemptions
The Act does not apply to:
- People in positions of management.
- People whose work involves travelling, and canvassers and caretakers.
- Establishments of the Central or State Government, local authorities, the Reserve Bank of India, railway administrations and cantonment authorities.
- Establishments in mines and oilfields.
- Stalls and bazaars set up for a fair or festival lasting no more than 15 days.
- Establishments that are not factories but to which the provisions of another applicable State law already apply.
Registration
Establishments register online through the Tamil Nadu Labour Department portal. The department's online registration manual walks through the process, and its statutory forms page carries the forms below (see References).
Compliances
- Form B - Register of Fines
- Form C - Register of Deductions
- Form D - Register of Advances Made to Employees
- Form H - Record of Hours of Work
- Form P - Register of Advances, Deductions for Damage or Loss, and Fines
- Form Q - Attendance Register with Leave Credits
- Form R - Wage Register
- Form S - Register of Employees with Hours of Work
- Form T - Wage Slip