Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Assembly has passed the Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishments Bill, 2025, which amends the 1956 Act, increasing the maximum daily working hours in all types of shops and commercial establishments from 9 to 10 hours and permitting women employees to work night shifts.
The Bill, which was introduced on Tuesday by Labour and Employment minister Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia, with an aim to increase overall productivity, create more employment opportunities especially for women workforce and promote ease of doing business in the state.
The amended provisions will be applicable to shops and commercial establishments which have employed 20 or more people and also raises the quarterly overtime ceiling from 50 hours to 144 hours in a financial year, the minister said while initiating discussion on the Bill.
“Increasing the maximum daily working hours from 9 to 10 while retaining the weekly cap of 48 hours allows better workload distribution without increasing overall work pressure. Increase in overtime period within quarter from 50 hours to 144 hours will also allow establishments to address work pressure and enable employers to manage manpower more efficiently over longer periods. It will also enable willing employees to earn higher income through overtime, which is paid at double the normal wage rate,” he further noted.
He stated that the revisions in daily working hours, the duration of continuous work before a compulsory rest break, and the permissible overtime limits have been aligned with current best practices as well as recommendations from NITI Aayog and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The Minister clarified that no employee can work more than six hours continuously without at least a 30-minute break. Establishments will be allowed to operate round-the-clock (24×7), provided employees receive overtime pay and one weekly day off. There will be no deduction in wages for the weekly off, and this protection will also extend to daily-wage workers.
Additionally, the legislation removed earlier restrictions on women working night shifts subject to conditions of their safety, dignity and welfare measures or any other conditions prescribed by the state government. The objective is to promote gender equality and open more formal-sector job opportunities for women, he said.
The Minister informed the House that the amended provisions will take effect retrospectively from November 8, replacing the Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025.
