The Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958

The Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958 
 
[PUNJAB ACT NO. 15 OF 1958] 
 
(Received the assent of the President on the 25th. April, 1958 and was published in the 
Punjab Government Gazette on the first May, 1958 for general information) 
 
An Act to provide for the regulation of conditions of work and employment in Shops 
and commercial establishments. 
 
Be it enacted by the Legislatur e of the State of Punjab an d Commercial Establishments 
Act, 1958. 
 
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 the 
Government may by notification direct that it shall also apply to such other area 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) “closed day”  means the day of the week on which a shop or commercial 
establishment remains closed; 
 
(iii) “closing hours” means the hour at which a shop  or commercial establishment 
closed; 
 
(iv) “Commercial establishment”  means any premises wherein any business, 
trade or profession is carri ed on for profit and include s journalistic or printing 
establishment and premises  in which business of ba nking, insurance, stocks 
and shares, brokerage and 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 hours beginni ng from the time when such employment 
commences. 
 
(vi) “employee” means a person wholly or prin cipally employed in, or in 
connection with, an establishment, whether working on permanent, periodical, 
contract or piece-rate wa ges or on commission basi s even though he receives 
no reward for his labour , but does not include a member of employee’s 
family; 
 
(vii) “employer” a person having charge of or owning or having ultimate control 
over the affairs of an establishment and include members of the family of an 
employer, a manager, agent or other pe rson 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 Govern ment may, by notification declare 
to be a festival for the purposes 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 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 on 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 commerci al 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 prescrib ed under the rules made 
under this Act; 
 
(xxii) “retail trade or business”   includes the business of a barber or hair dresser, 
the sale of refreshments or intoxicating liquors, and retain 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 custom ers and includes offices, store-rooms, 
godowns, sale-depots or ware-houses, 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 a ttached to a factory where the persons 
employed in the shop are allowed the be nefits provided for workers under the 
Factories Act, 1948 ()LXIII of 1948):  
 
(xxvi) “spread over” means a period between the commencement and 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 mid-night  on Saturday and mid-night 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 employ ment 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 th e business carried on at the 
establishment shall be deemed to be employment about the business of the establishment. 
  
 
SECTION 3  
 
3. Act not applicable to certain establishment and persons. -- Nothing in this Act shall 
apply to. – 
 
(a) offices of or under the Central or State Governments, (except commercial 
undertakings), the Reserve Bank of India, any railway administration or any local 
authority; 
 
(b) any railway service, air service, wa ter transport service, tramway, postal, 
telegraph or telephone service, any system of public conservancy or sanitation or 
any industry business or undertaking which supplies power, light or water to the 
public; 
 
(c) railway dining cars; 
 
(d) offices of lawyers; 
 
(e) any person employed about the business  of any establishment mentioned in 
paragraphs (a) to (d) aforesaid; 
 
(f) any person whose hours of employment are regulated by or under the Factories 
Act, 1947, except the provisions of sub-secti ons (3), (4), and (5 ) of section 7 of 
this Act in so far as they relate to employment in a factory; 
(g) any person whose work is inherently intermittent; 
 
(h) establishments of stamp vendors and petition writers. 
  
  
SECTION 4 
 
4. Provisions of section 9 and sub-section (1) of section 10 no t applicable to certain 
establishments. 
 
(1) Nothing in section 9 and sub-section (1) of section 10 shall apply to-- 
 
(a) clubs, hotels, boarding houses, stalls and refreshment rooms at the railway 
stations; 
 
(b) shops of barbers and hair dressers; 
 
(c) establishments dealing exclusively in  meat, fish, confectionery, poultry, eggs, 
dairy produce [except ghee], bread sweets,  chocolates, ice, ice-cream, cooked 
food; fresh fruits, flowers or vegetables; 
 
(d) shops dealing exclusively in medicines or medical or surgical requisites or 
appliances and establishments for the treatment or care of the sick, infirm, 
destitute or mentally unfit.  
 
(e) shops dealing in articles required for funerals, burials, or cremations. 
 
(f) shops dealing exclusively in pans (betel leaves), bi ris or cigarettes of liquid 
refreshment sold in retail for consumption on the premises. 
 
(g) shops dealing exclusively in newspapers  or periodicals, editing and dispatching 
sections of the newspaper office and office of the news agencies; 
 
(h) places of public entertainment except cinema houses; 
 
(i) establishment for the re tail sale of petrol and pe troleum products used for 
transport; 
 
(j) shops in regimental institutes, garris on shops and troop canteens in cantonments; 
 
(k) tanneries; 
 
(l) establishments engaged in retail trade car ried on at an exhibiti on or show, if such 
retail trade is subsidiary or ancillary onl y to the main purpose of the exhibition or 
show; 
 
(m) oil mills not registered under the Factories Act, 1948; 
 
(n) brick and lime kilns; 
 
(o) commercial establishments engaged in the manufacture of bronze and brass 
utensils so far as it is confined to the process of melting in furnace; 
 
(p) saltpeter refineries; 
 
(q) establishments of commercial; colleges  of short hand or type writing and other 
educational academies; 
 
(r) booking offices of the passenger and goods transport companies; 
 
(s) establishments dealing exclusively in green and dry fodder and chaff cutting; and 
 
(t) cycle stands, and cycle repair shops; 
 
(2) Nothing in sub-section (1) of section 10 shall apply to: -- 
 
(i) establishments of Cinema houses. 
 
(ii) Establishments dealing in hides and skins; 
 
(iii) ice factories; 
 
(iv) establishments engaged exclusively in re pairs of cycles or Motor vehicles or the 
service of motor vehicles, not being an establishment dealing in cycle or motor 
vehicle or exclusively in spare parts thereof; 
(v) establishments dealing exclusiv ely in providing on hire tents, Chhauldaries and 
other articles such as crockery, furnitu re, loud speakers,  gas lights and fans 
required for ceremonial purposes and 
 
(vi) establishments, dealing exclusively in retail sale of phulians, murmura, sugar 
coated gram, reories or other similar commodities. 
 
5. Power of Government to extend the provision of Act. – (1) Notwithstanding anything 
contained in section 3 or section 4, Gove rnment may by notifica tion declare that any 
class of establishments or persons specifi ed therein shall not be exempt from the 
operation of such provisions of  this Act as may be specified in the notification and that 
provisions of this Act specified such notification shall apply to such class of 
establishments or persons as the case may be. 
 
(2) Every notification made under sub-section (1) shall as soon as possible after it is 
made, be laid before the 
Vboth Houses of the State Legislature. 
 
6. Conditions of employments for young persons. -- (1) The total number of hours 
worked by a young person employed about the busin ess of an establishment, exclusive of 
intervals for meals and rest, shall not exceed thirty hours in any one week or five hours in 
any one day. 
 
(2) A young person employed about the busine ss of an establishment shall not be 
employed continuously for more than three hours without an interval of  at least half an 
hour for meal or rest. 
 
(3) Government may prescribe further conditions in respect of the  employment of young 
persons employed about the business of establis hments or any class of them, including if 
it thinks fit, conditions with respect to the daily period of employment of those persons, 
and no such person shall be employed otherwise than in accordance with those 
conditions. 
 
                                                
 
V But see Adaptation of Laws Order, 1968. 
(4) In the case of any contravention of, or fa ilure to comply with the provisions of this 
section, the employer shall, be liable, on convict ion, to a fine which shall not be less than 
fifty rupees but which may extend to two hundred rupees. 
 
(5) Where, in proceedings for an offence under this section, the person in respect of 
whom the offence was committed was a young person, and he appears to the court to 
have been at the date of the commission of  the offence a young person he shall, for the 
purposes of this Act, be presumed at that date to have been a young person unless the 
contrary is proved. 
 
7. Hours of employment. – (1) Subject to the pr ovisions of this Act,  no person shall be 
employed about the business of an establishm ent for more than fo rty-eight hours in any 
one week and nice hours in any one-day. 
 
(2) On occasion of seasonal or  exceptional pressure of wo rk a person employed in an 
establishment may be employed about the business of the establishment in excess of the 
working hour specified in sub-section (1); 
 
Provided that— 
 
(a) the total number of overtime hours work ed by an employee does not exceed fifty 
within a period of any one quarter; and 
 
(b) the person-employed overtime shall be pa id remuneration at twice the rate of his 
normal wages calculated by the hour. 
 
Explanation. – ‘Normal Wages’ for the purposes of proviso (b) means basic wages plus 
such allowances including the cash equivalent  of the advantages accruing through the 
Concessional sale to workers of foodgrains and other articles as the worker is for the time 
being entitled to, but does not include bonus. 
 
(3) No employer shall, on any day or in a ny week, employ about the business of the 
establishment any person who has been previo usly employed on that da y or in that week 
in another establishment or a factory for a longer period than shall, together with the time 
during which he has been previously employed on that day or in that week in such other 
establishment or factory exceed the number of hours permitted by this Act. 
 
(4) In any proceedings against the employer of  the establishment for a contravention of 
the provisions of sub- section (3) it shall be a defence to prove that the employer did not 
know and could not with reasonable diligence as certain that the person was previously 
employed by the employer of the other establishment or factory. 
 
(5) No person shall work about the busines s of an establishment of two or more 
establishments or an establishment and a f actory in excess of th e period during which 
may be lawfully employed under this Act; 
 
   
 
8. Intervals for rest and meals. – (1) Subject to the provisio ns of section 6, no employee 
except a chaukidar, watchman or  guard, shall be allowed to wo rk in an establishment for 
more than five hours before he has had an interval for rest of at least half an hour: - 
 
Provided that Government may by notification fix such interval for rest in respect of any 
class of establishments for the whole of the St ate of any part thereof as it may consider n 
necessary. 
 
(2) The period of work of an employee in an establishment shall be so fixed that, 
inclusive of his interval for rest, the spread over shall not be more than ten hours in a day. 
 
9. Opening and closing hours. -- Government shall by notifi cation fix the opening and 
closing hours of all classes of establishments; and differe nt opening and closing hours 
may be fixed for different classes of establishments and for different areas; 
 
Provided that Government may allow an estab lishment attached to a factory to observe 
such opening and closing hours as the Government may direct. 
 
10. Close day. -- (1) Save as otherwise provided in this Act every establishment shall 
remain closed on every Sunday; 
 
Provided that, in the case of an establishm ent attached to a factory the employer may 
substitute the close day of such establishment so as to corresponds to the substituted close 
day of the factory in the same manger and subject to the same conditions as are laid down 
in this behalf in the Factories Act, 1948; 
 
Provided further that Government may by notif ication fix any other day to be the close 
day in respect of any class of establishmen ts for the whole of the State or any part 
thereof. 
 
(2) (i) The employer of an establishment shall in the prescribed form intimate to the 
prescribed authority the worki ng hours, the day in a week re ferred to in clause (b) of 
section 11 and the period of interval o the employed person within fifteen days of the date 
of registration of the establishment.. 
 
(ii) The employer of an establishment may change the working hours and the period of 
interval once in a quarter of the year by givi ng intimation in the prescribed form to the 
prescribed authority at least fifteen days before the change is to take place. 
 
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub- section (1), the employer of an 
establishment may open his establishment on the close day if. – 
 
(a) such day happens to coin cide with a festival, and 
 
(b) employees required to work on that day are paid remuneration at double the rate 
of their normal wages calculated by the hour. 
 
11. ‘Employees’ off day in a week -- No employees shall be allowed or required to work- 
 
(a) on a close day, in any establishment which is required to observe a close day; and 
 
(b) on one day in a week, in any other establishment; and 
 
(c) before the opening hour of the establ ishment and after closing hour of the 
establishment; 
 
Provided that a watchman may be allowed or required to work on an off day under 
this section if he is allowed another off day in the week. 
  
12. Holidays. – Every employee in an establishment shall be allowed – 
 
(a) a holiday with wages on the Independence day, Republic day, and Mahatma 
Gandhi’s birthday; and 
 
(b) three other holidays with wages in a y ear in connection with such festivals as 
Government may declare from time to time by notification. 
 
Provided that an employee required to wo rk on any such holiday should be paid 
remuneration at double the rate of his normal wages calculated by the hour. 
 
13. Registration of establishments. – (1) Within the period specified, in sub-section 
(3), the employer of every establishment shall send to the prescribed authority 
concerned a statement in the prescribed form containing: - 
 
(a) the name of the employer and the manager, if any; 
 
(b) postal address of the establishment; 
 
(c) the name, if any; of the establishment; 
 
(d) number of persons employed; 
 
(e) such other particulars as may be prescribed. 
 
(2) (i) On receipt of the statement, the au thority shall on being satisfied about the 
correctness of the statement, register the establishment in the register of establishments in 
such a manner as may be prescribed and shall issue in a prescribed form a registration 
certificate to the employer. The registration certificate shall on demand by the inspector, 
be shown to him by the employer. 
 
(ii) The registration certificat e shall be renewable by the 31 st. March, every year. Thirty 
days grace time shall, however, be allowed for the renewal of the certificate. 
 
(3) Within thirty days from the date men tioned in column 2 below in respect of the 
establishment in column 1 the statement sha ll be sent to the prescribed authority under 
sub-section (1). 
 
Establishment 
Date from which the period of 
30 days is to commence 
( 1 )          ( 2 )  
 
(i) Establishments existing in areas to which   The date on which this Act  
this Act applies or where this Act is extended.  comes into force or the date 
        on which the Act is extended,  
        a s  t h e  c a s e  m a y  b e .  
 
(ii) New establishment in such    The date of which the establi- 
      area       ment commences its work. 
 
(4) It shall be the duty of the employer to notify to the prescribed authority in the 
prescribed form any change in respect of any information contained in his statement 
under this section within seven days after th e change has taken place. The authority shall 
on receiving such notice and on being satisfied  about its correctness make the change in 
the register of establishments in accord ance with such notice and shall amend the 
registration certificate, if necessar0 
 
(5) The employer shall, within ten days of his closing the establishment, notify to the 
prescribed authority in writing accordingl y. The authority shall, on receiving the 
information and being satisfied about the correctness remove the name of such 
establishment from the register of establishments and cancel the registration certificate. 
 
14. Leave. -- (a) Every employee who has been in employment for not less than twenty 
days in a year shall be entitled to one day’s earned leave for every such twenty days: 
 
Provided that a young person shall be entitled to  one day’s earned leave for every fifteen 
days of employment during the year. 
 
(b) if an employee is discharged or dismissed from or leaves service during the course of 
the year he shall be entitled to leave with wage s or wage in lieu of un-availed leave at the 
rates laid down in clause (a). 
 
(c) In calculating leave under this section, frac tion of half a day or more shall be treated 
as one day’s leave and fraction of less then half a day shall be ignored. 
 
(d) If an employee does not in any one year take the whole of the leave allowed to him 
under clause (a), any leave not taken by him shal l be added to the leave to be allowed to 
him in the succeeding year: 
 
Provided that— 
 
(i) Subject to any specific agreement between the employer and the employee, the 
total number of days of leave that may be carried forward to a succeeding year 
shall not exceed forty in the case of a young person or thirty in any other case; 
 
(ii) The provisions of this section shall not  operate to the prejudi ce of any rights to 
which an employee may be entitled under any other law or under the terms of any 
award, agreement or contract of service; 
 
(iii) Where such award, agreement or contra ct of service provides for a longer leave 
with wages or weekly holidays than those provided under this section the 
employee shall be entitled to only such  longer leave or weekly holidays as the 
case may be. 
 
(2) Leave period in clause (a) of sub-section (1) shall, when applied for be granted except 
for a valid reason to be communicated in wr iting by the employer to the employee within 
fifteen days of the application: 
 
Provided that the leave so refused shall, if applied for again, be allowed during the year. 
 
(3) (a) For the purpose of computing the period during which an  employee has been 
in employment within the meaning of sub- section (1) (a), the period during which he 
was on leave under this section and the off da ys in a week referre d to in section 11, 
shall be included. 
 
(b) The un-availed leave of an employee sh all not be taken into consideration in 
computing the period of any notice required to  be given before discharge, removal or 
dismissal. 
 
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in th e foregoing sub-section every employee in 
an establishment shall be allowed with wa ges seven days casual leave and seven days 
sick leave in a year.  
 
15. Wages for close days and during leave period. – (1) Any person employed in or 
about an establishment for a period of fifteen days, or more shall r eceive, for every off 
day in a week referred to in section 11, wages at the rate of not less than the average daily 
wages earned by him for the days on which he worked during the week immediately 
preceding every such off day. 
 
(2) For the leave allowed to him under section 14, an employee shall be paid at the rate of 
equal to the daily average of his total full time earnings for the days on which he worked 
during the month immediately preceding his leave exclusive of any overtime and bonus 
but inclusive of dearness allowance and the cash equivalent of th e advantage accruing 
through the Concessional sale to the employee of food grains and other articles. 
 
(3) An employee who has been allowed leave for not less than five da ys in the case of a 
young person and four days in any other case  shall, on demand, before his leave begins, 
be paid the wages due for the period of leave allowed. 
 
16. Wage period. -- (1) Every person responsible for the payment of wages to an 
employee shall fix a period in respect of which such wages shall be payable. 
 
(2) No wage period shall exceed one month. 
 
(3) The wages of every person employed shall be paid before the expiry of the seventh 
day from the date on which the wages become due. 
 
(4) Where the employment of any person is terminated by or on behalf of the employer 
the wages earned buy him and the remuneration in lieu of un-availed period of due leave 
shall be paid before the expiry of the s econd working day after such termination and 
where an employee quits his employment, on or before the next pay day: 
 
Provided that no claim under this section shall be entertained unless it is preferred within 
six months from the date of its accruing except under special circumstances at the 
discretion of the Chief Inspector of Shops and Commercial Establishments Punjab. 
 
17. Deduction from wages. -- The wages of an employee shall be paid to him without 
deductions of any kind except those authori zed by or under the Paym ent of Wages Act, 
1936, in so far as such deductions are applicab le to the employee and in such manner, to 
such extent and to subject to such conditions as are specified in that Act.  
 
18. Realisations of compensation. -- (1) In case of contraven tion of the provisions of 
section 16, if a judicial Magistrate is satisfied that the employee has not been paid his due 
wages, he shall direct the employer to pay the wages along with compensation not 
exceeding eight times the amount of wages withheld. 
 
(2) The amount of wages withheld and compensation payable  under this section shall for 
the purposes of its recovery, be deemed to be  a fine imposed under this Act in addition to 
the penalty imposed under section 26 and shall be realised as such. 
 
19. Enforcement and inspection. -- (1) Government may, by no tification appoint such 
persons or such class of persons  as it thinks fir to be insp ecting officers for the purposes 
of this Act within such local limits as it may assign to them, respectively. 
 
(2) Subject to any rules made by Government in this behalf an inspecting officer may, 
within the local limits for which he is appointed— 
 
(a) enter at all reasonable times and with su ch assistants, if any being persons in the 
service of Government or of  any local authority as he thinks fit, any place which 
is or which he has reason to believe to be an establishment; 
 
(b) make such examination of the premises and of any prescribed registers, records 
and notices and take on the sp ot or otherwise evidence of any persons as he may 
deem necessary for carrying out purposes of this Act; 
 
(c) exercise such other powers as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes of 
this Act: 
 
Provided that no one shall be  required under this secti on to answer any question 
or give any evidence tending to incriminate him. 
 
(3) Ever inspecting officer appointed under this  section shall be deemed to be a public 
servant within the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code. 
 
20. Record.— (1) The employer of every establishment shall, in the prescribed form and 
manner keep exhibited in the establishment a notice setting forth the close day, the 
working hours and the period of interval of  employed persons, if any, and such other 
particulars as may be prescribed. 
 
(2) The employer of any establishment, about the business of which persons are 
employed, shall in the prescribed form and ma nner keep a record of  working hours, rest 
intervals and the amount of leave taken by every person em ployed about the business of 
an establishment and particulars of all overt ime employment shall be separately entered 
in the record. 
 
☼(2A) The employer of every establishment,  about the business of which persons are 
employed, shall mart the attendance of every employees in the register maintained for the 
purpose within one hour of the start of dut y and in the case of overtime every entry 
regarding the commencement or closure of ove rtime shall respectively be made before or 
after such commencement of closure. 
 
(3) The employer of every establishment shall keep a photograph of each employee who 
has completed three months continuous service in the establishment: 
 
Provided that where such employee fails to supply such photograph to the employer 
within fifteen days of the completion of such service, his failure so to so shall be recorded 
by the employer under the signature of the employee. 
 
(4) The employer of every establishment shall for the purposes of this Act maintain such 
other records and registers and display such other notices as may be prescribed. 
 
                                                
 
☼ Pb. Act I of 1964. 
(5) In the case of any contravention of th e foregoing provisions of this section, the 
employer of an establishment shall be liable, on conviction to a fine not exceeding five 
rupees for everyday on which the contravention occurs or continues. 
 
(6) If any person with intent to deceive make s, or causes or allows to be made, in any 
such record, register or notice as aforesaid an entry which is to his knowledge false in any 
material particular or willfully omits or causes or allows to be omitted from any such 
record, register or notice an entry required to  be made therein, he shall be liable, on 
conviction, to imprisonment for a term not ex ceeding three months or to a fine which 
shall not be less than twenty five rupees and may extend to two hundred rupees or both. 
  
21. Inspection of registers and calling for information. -- (1) It shall be the duty of 
every employer of an establishment to make available for inspection of such officers as 
may be prescribed, all accounts or other reco rds required to be kept for the purposes of 
this Act; and to give to such officer any other information in connection therewith as may 
be required. 
 
(2) Whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) or willfully obstructs the 
inspecting authority in the exercise of the power under this Act or conceals or prevents 
any employee in an establishment from appearing before or being examined by the 
authority shall be liable, on conviction to a fi ne which shall not be less than twenty five 
rupees and may extend to two hundred rupees. 
  
22. Notice of removal. -- (1) No employee shall be removed from service unless and until 
one month’s previous notice or pay in lieu thereof has been given to him: 
 
Provided that – 
 
(a) no employee shall be entitle d to the notice or pay in lieu thereof if he is removed 
on account of misconduct established on record; 
(b) no employee shall be entitled to one m onth’s notice or notice pay unless and until 
he has been in the service of the em ployee continuously for a period of three 
months. 
 
(2) In any case instituted for a contraventi on of the provisions of sub-section (1), if a 
Judicial Magistrate is satisfied that an employee has been removed without reasonable 
cause, the Judicial Magistrate  shall, for reason to be recorded in writing, award 
compensation to the employee equivalent to two month’s salary; 
 
Provided that no such claim shall be entert ained unless it is preferred by the employee 
within six months from the date of his removal. 
 
(3) The amount payable as compensation under this section shall be  in addition to, and 
recoverable and fine payable under section 26. 
 
(4) No person who has been awarded compensa tion under this section shall be entitled to 
bring a civil suit in respect of the same claim. 
 
23. Notice by employee. -- (1) No employee, who has been in the service of the employer 
continuously for a period of three months sh all terminate his employment unless he has 
given to his employer seven days previous notice or pay in lieu thereof. 
 
(2) Where an employee contravenes the provis ions of sub-section (1) his employer may 
forfeit his unpaid wages for a period not exceeding seven days. 
 
24. [Omitted vide Punjab Act, 1 of 1964] 
 
25. Provisions as to trading elsewhere than in establishment. -- Save as otherwise 
provided by any law for the time being in force,  it shall not be lawful in any locality to 
carry on in any place not being an establishment,  retail trade or business of any class at 
any time if it is unlawful in that locality to keep an establishment open for the purpose of 
such retail trade or busine ss, and if any person carried on any trade or business in 
contravention of this section, this Act sha ll apply as if he were the employer of the 
establishment which was being kept open in contravention of the Act. 
 
26. Penalties. -- Subject to the other provisions of th is Act whoever contravenes any of 
the provisions of this Act or the rules made  thereunder and no penalty has been provided 
for such contravention in this Act, shall be  liable, on conviction, to a fine, not exceeding 
one hundred rupees for the first offence, an d three hundred rupees for every subsequent 
office: 
 
Provided that the fine in respect of every s ubsequent offence within the same year shall 
not be less than one hundred rupee sin any case. 
 
27. Protection of officers and their agents from personal liability. -- No suit, 
prosecution or other legal proceeding shall li e against any public servant or any other 
person in the service of the Central or State Government, acting under direction of any 
such public servant, for anything in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance 
of the provisions of this Act or of any rule made thereunder.  
 
28. Power to grant exemptions. -- Government or any officer empowered by the 
Government in this behalf may, by notificati on in the official Gaze tte, exempt from the 
operation of all or any of the provisions of th is Act for any period it considers desirable 
any establishment or any class thereof or  any employer or employees or class of 
employers or employees to whom this Act applies on such conditions as it may think fit. 
 
29. Prohibition of employment of children. -- No child who has not completed the age of 
fourteen years shall be employed in any establishment. 
 
30. Condition of Employment of women. -- (1) No woman shall be  required or allowed 
to work whether as an employee or otherwise in any establishment during night: 
 
Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall apply to an establishment which is engaged 
in the treatment or care of the sick, the infirm, the destitute or the mentally unfit. 
 
(2) No employee of any establishment sh all knowingly employ a woman and no woman 
shall engage in employment in any establishment during six weeks following the day of 
her confinement or miscarriage. 
 
(3) Government may prescribe further conditions in respec t of employment of women 
employed about the business of establishment or  any class of them, including if it thinks 
fit, conditions with re spect to the daily peri od of employment, leav e, and other matters 
and no woman shall be employed otherwise than in accordance with these conditions. 
 
31. Maternity benefit. -- (1) Every woman employed in an  establishment who has been 
continuously employed in that establishment or in establishments belonging to the 
employer of that establishment for a period of not less than six months preceding the date 
of her delivery shall be entitl ed to receive, and the employer shall be liable to make to 
her, a payment of maternity benefit which shall be prescribed by the Government for 
everyday during the six weeks immediately preceding and including the day of her 
delivery and for each days of six weeks following her delivery: 
 
Provided that no such payment shall be made for any day on  which she attends work and 
receives payment thereof during the six weeks preceding her delivery. 
 
32. Bar of Legal Practitioners in certain proceedings. – Notwithstanding anything 
contained in the law relating to legal parishio ners for the time bei ng in force, no legal 
practitioner shall be permitted to appear, plead or act for the employer or the employee in 
any proceedings, before a court between an em ployer or the employee, arising out of the 
contravention of any of the provisions of this Act. 
 
33. Saving of certain rights and privileges. – Nothing in this Act shall affect any rights 
or privileges to which an employee in any es tablishment is entitled on the date this Act 
comes into force under any other law, contra ct, custom or usage applicable to such 
establishment or any award, settlement or  agreement binding on the employer and the 
employee in such establishment if such, rights or privileges are more favourable to him 
than those to which he could be entitled under this Act. 
 
•33A. Cognizance of offences. -- No court shall take c ognizance of any offence 
punishable under this Act or any rule made thereunder or of the abetment of or attempt to 
commit, such offence, save on a complaint made by the employee concerned or by such 
officer, save on a complaint made by the employee concerned or by such officer as may 
be authorized in writing in this behalf by the Government. 
 
34. Power to make Rules. -- (1) Government may make rules for the purpose of giving 
effect to the provisions of this Act. 
                                                
 
• Pb. Act 1 of 1964 
 
(2) In particular, and without  prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such 
rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely: -- 
 
(a) the manner and form in which the registers and notice shall be kept; 
 
(b) the officers who may be empowered to inspect registers and call for information 
as required by this Act; 
 
(c) the agency by which and the manner in which the prosecution shall be instituted; 
 
(d) the form of submitting a statement, the particulars under sub-section (1) of section 
13, the manner in which registration of establishment is to be made and the form 
of registration certificate under sub-section (2) and the form of notifying a change 
under sub-section (4) of section 13; 
 
(e) the authority to and the manner in which any notice required by this Act shall be 
given; 
 
(f) the conditions subject to  which any exemption under this Act may be granted; 
 
(g) the manner in which the employer of an establishment shall keep exhibited in the 
premises a close day, closing and opening hours and such other particulars as may 
be prescribed; and 
 
(h) to safeguard health, safety and welfare of the employees while on duty; and 
 
(3) All rules made under this section shall, as soon as possible after they are made, be laid 
before the State Legislature. 
 
35. Repeal. -- The Punjab Trade Employees Act, 1940, is hereby repealed: 
 
Provided that – 
 
(a) every appointment order,  rule, bye-law, regulation, not ification or notice made, 
issued or given under the provisions of the Ac t so repealed shall in so far as it is 
not inconsistent with the pr ovisions of this Act, be d eemed to have been made, 
issued or given under the provisions of this Act, unless and until superseded by 
any other appointment order, rule, bye-law, regulation, notification or notice made 
issued or given under this Act; 
 
(b) any proceeding relating to the trial of  an offence punishable under the provisions 
of the Act so repealed, shall be continued and completed as if the said Act has not 
been repealed but has continued in opera tion, and any penalty  imposed in such 
proceeding shall be recovered under this Act as repealed. 
 

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