Amendments in the Maharashtra Shops Act

Update dated October 06, 2025

On October 01, 2025, the Government of Maharashtra has issued the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025 (“Ordinance”), for the State of Maharashtra amending the key provisions of the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017.

The Ordinance came into effect immediately on October 01, 2025, and will remain in force till the 6 weeks from the date of reassembly of the State Legislature.  

The salient features of the proposed amendments are as follows, namely :—

• Increase in threshold limit- The Ordinance has increased threshold limit of 10 or more employees to 20 or more employees in any establishment for registration and other regulatory provisions of the said Act in order to reduce compliance burden for smaller businesses, encourage job creation and eliminate the fear of noncompliance. Establishments with less than 20 workers will no longer need a registration certificate from the Facilitator but they will only need to provide an intimation of their business. However, the other statutory protections to their workers remain the same;

• Increase in Daily Hours limit- The Ordinance has increased the daily hours of work from the existing nine hours upto ten hours, inclusive of rest intervals, subject to a maximum of fortyeight hours in any week. This measure aims to create greater economic activity, enhance employment opportunities and give establishments the flexibility to handle emergencies, peak demand or staff shortages without disruption;

• Increase in Spread Over limit- The Ordinance has extended the spread-over of working hours from the existing ten and a half hours to twelve hours in a day to accommodate the increased daily working hours and to provide greater scheduling in establishment;

• Increase in continuous Working Hours limit- The Ordinance has increased the maximum continuous working hours without a rest interval from five to six hours, to provide flexibility and smoother adjustments to the daily maximum hours of work;

• Increase in Overtime periods limit- The Ordinance has increased overtime period within quarter from 125 hours to 144 hours so that establishments will be allowed to engage workers in overtime for an increased period per quarter to address exceptional work pressure. This change will increase workers’ earning potential and formalize overtime practices, ensuring that all additional hours are properly recorded and compensated, which will help in preventing exploitation of workers. However the overtime working will not be mandatory for the workers.

© Anhad Law