Nagaland notifies new ordinance capping hotel hours, revising shop work rules, mandating safety measures and easing compliance burdens.
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KOHIMA — Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla has promulgated the Nagaland Shops and Establishments (First Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, amending provisions of the Nagaland Shops and Establishments Act, 1982 relating to working hours and other matters concerning shops and establishments in the state.
The governor promulgated the ordinance on December 15, and it came into force from the date of its publication in the Nagaland Gazette on December 17, 2025. The ordinance has been issued to address the urgency of reducing compliance burden and promoting deregulation.
As the Nagaland Legislative Assembly is not in session, the governor promulgated the ordinance in exercise of the powers conferred under Article 213(1) of the Constitution of India.
According to the ordinance, its provisions apply only to shops or establishments employing 20 or more persons.
The amended law prohibits hotels and restaurants in Nagaland from remaining open after 11 pm. “In no hotel, restaurant, eating house or café shall the hour of closing be later than eleven o’clock post meridiem,” it stated.
It further provides that no person employed in an establishment shall be required or permitted to work for more than ten hours in any one day or forty-eight hours in any one week, or beyond the closing hours of the establishment. In cases where overtime work is required, the total working hours shall not exceed twelve hours in any one day or one hundred and forty-four hours in a quarter (three consecutive months).
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The ordinance also stipulates that the employer shall obtain written consent from a lactating mother or pregnant woman if she is required or permitted to work overtime.
No employee shall be required or permitted to work for more than six hours in a day without an interval for rest of at least thirty minutes, which shall not exceed one hour.
The periods of work and intervals for rest shall be arranged by the employer so that, together, they do not extend beyond twelve and a half hours in any one day.
The ordinance further states that no person below the age of 18 years shall be required or permitted to work in any shop or establishment after 8 pm.
With regard to women employees, the law provides that any woman, other than a lactating mother or a pregnant woman, shall not be restricted from working in any shift on any day of the week. However, no woman shall be required or permitted to work between 8 pm and 6 am without her written consent.
The employer or shopkeeper is required to ensure adequate rest rooms, separate ladies’ toilets, protection of dignity, honour and safety, safeguards against sexual harassment, CCTV surveillance, and transportation from the workplace to the doorstep of the employee’s residence.
The Nagaland Shops and Establishments Act, 1982 was enacted to regulate holidays, working hours and other matters relating to shops and establishments.
The amendment has been deemed expedient to raise the employment threshold, revise working hour limits, and delete certain provisions under Section 20 of the Principal Act, in line with the DPIIT, government of India’s directives on deregulation and easing compliance burden.