Chapter I PRELIMINARY

1. (1) This Act may be called the Jammu and Kashmir Shops and Establishments (Licensing, Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2025.
2. (2) It shall extend to the whole of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
3. (3) It shall come into force on such date as the Government may by notification in Official Gazette, appoint.
4. (4) It shall apply to all the shops and establishments in the Jammu and Kashmir.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise

requires:-

1. (a) "Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator" means the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator appointed as such under subsection (1) of section 23 of this Act;
2. (b) “day" means a period of twenty-four hours beginning at mid night;
3. (c) "employer" means an owner or a person who has ultimate control over the affairs of a shop or an establishment, and includes— I. in the case of a firm or association of individuals, a partner or member of the firm or association; II. in the case of a company, a director of the company; III. in the case of a shop or an establishment owned or controlled by the Central Government or a Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir or local authority, the person or persons appointed to manage the affairs of such shop or establishment by the Central Government or the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir or local authority, as the case may be;
4. (d) "establishment" means any premises, not being the premises of a factory or a shop: -
   • (i) wherein any trade, business, manufacture, or any work in connection with, or incidental or ancillary thereto, or any journalistic or printing work, or business of banking, insurance, Residential Hotels, Restaurants, stocks and shares, brokerage or produce exchange, is carried on; or
   • (ii) which is used as theatre, cinema, or for any other public amusement or entertainment, to whom the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948 and Motor Transport Workers Act, 1970 does not apply;
5. (e) “Government” means Government of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir;
6. (f) “notification” means a notification published in the Official Gazette;
7. (g) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
8. (h) “shop" means any premises where goods are sold, either by retail or wholesale or where services are rendered to customers, and includes an office, a store-room, go-down, warehouse or workhouse or work place for distribution or packaging or repackaging or finished goods is carried on; but does not include a shop attached to a factory where persons employed in such shop are allowed the benefits provided under the Factories Act 1948;
   • (i) “wages" means wages as defined in the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 (4 of 1936);
9. (j) “week” means a period of seven days beginning at midnight on Saturday night or such other night as may be approved in writing for a particular area by the Chief Inspector cum Facilitator;
10. (k) “worker" means any person (except an apprentice under the Apprentice Act, 1961) employed to do any manual, unskilled, skilled, technical, operational or clerical work for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be express or implied.

provisions of this Act shall not apply to-

1. (a) a person occupying position of confidential, managerial or supervisory character in a shop or in an establishment;
2. (b) a worker whose work is inherently intermittent;
3. (c) any office of the Government or the local authority;
4. (d) any office of the Reserve Bank of India;
5. (e) establishments for the treatment of care of the sick, infirm, destitute or mentally unfit running on no profit no loss basis;
6. (f) bazars, fairs, or exhibitions for the sale of works for charitable or other purposes from which no profit is derived;
7. (g) stalls and refreshments rooms at railway stations or railway dinning cars;
8. (h) any commercial establishment carrying on the business of transport of passengers and goods by motor vehicles and persons exclusively employed in such business;
   • (i) clubs not being residential clubs;
9. (j) offices of lawyers;
10. (k) a member of the family of employer;

1. (2) A list of workers referred to in clause (a) of sub section (1) shall be displayed on the website of the shop or establishment and in absence of the website at a conspicuous place in the shop or establishment and a copy thereof shall be sent to the Inspector-cumFacilitator.

contained in this Act shall adversely affect any right or privilege to which any worker is entitled, under any law, award, agreement, contract, custom or usage for the time being in force.