Overview

• The labour department proposed lifting the daily limit for private establishments from nine to ten hours under the Shops and Establishments Act, but the cabinet sought clarifications and deferred a decision.
• The draft changes include raising overtime to 144 hours per quarter, lifting the daily inclusive cap to 12 hours, allowing longer continuous work with a half‑hour break after six hours, and applying the Act only to establishments with 20 or more employees.
• A separate set of draft Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Rules, 2025 was forwarded to the Centre, permitting factory shifts up to 13 hours with written consent and enabling women’s night work with safety provisions.
• The factory draft also proposes increasing the permissible extended hours over three months from 115 to 175 and revises rules on recess periods and extended hours.
• A government notification has invited objections and suggestions on the factory rules, with responses due in the first week of September, reflecting a wider push for working‑hours flexibility across several Indian states.