INDIA · STATE · WORKING TIME
Working hours under the Uttar Pradesh Shops and Establishments Act
What the Shops and Establishments Act applicable in Uttar Pradesh sets for daily and weekly hours, spread-over, rest intervals, overtime and night-shift work — the rules that govern employers in Noida, Lucknow. Every value below links to the source it was verified against.
- Governing Act
- Uttar Pradesh Dookan aur Vanijya Adhishthan Adhiniyam, 1962 (UP Act 26 of 1962), as amended by the (Sanshodhan) Adhiniyam, 2025 (UP Act 12 of 2026) — assented 1 January 2026, deemed in force from 19 November 2025, replacing Ordinance 16 of 2025prsindia.org ↗
- Maximum daily hours
- 9 hours (s.6(1)(b), raised from 8 by the 2025 amendment). Total hours including overtime may not exceed 11 on any day except on stock-taking or accounts days (s.6(1) first proviso)prsindia.org ↗
- Maximum weekly hours
- 48 hours in a week (s.6(1) first proviso, as substituted by the 2025 amendment — the pre-amendment s.6 set no weekly figure)prsindia.org ↗
- Spread-over limit
- 12 hours in a day for work periods plus rest intervals (s.7, unamended). The State Government may increase the spread-over generally or for a class of establishments (s.7 proviso)prsindia.org ↗
- Rest interval
- At least 30 minutes after not more than 5 hours of continuous work (s.7, unamended)prsindia.org ↗
- Overtime rate
- 2× the ordinary rate (basic plus allowances, excluding bonus) for every hour beyond the 9-hour day (s.6(2)); for the calculation a day is reckoned as 9 working hours (s.6(2) Explanation 2, changed from 8)prsindia.org ↗
- Overtime cap
- 144 hours in any quarter (s.6(1) second proviso, raised from 50 by the 2025 amendment); quarters run from 1 Jan, 1 Apr, 1 Jul and 1 Octprsindia.org ↗
- Weekly off
- One whole day in each week for every employee other than a watchman or caretaker (s.9(ii)); shops and commercial establishments not listed in Schedule II must also close one day a week (s.8(1)(a))prsindia.org ↗
- Women on night shifts
- s.22 as substituted by the 2025 amendment: an employer may allow women to work between 7pm and 6am with their consent, on being satisfied that shelter, food canteen, rest room, night crèche, ladies' toilets, adequate safety protection and transport from the establishment to their residences exist. No exemption application is required (the pre-2018 blanket prohibition is gone)prsindia.org ↗
- IT/ITES exemption
- Notification 1866/XXXVI-03-2024-1844430 of 26 Sep 2024 exempted IT and ITES establishments state-wide from ss.6 and 7 for two years on conditions: 12 hours a day inclusive of rest (6 for young persons), overtime beyond 48 hours a week at 2×, cap of 125 hours a quarter, weekly off. On its own terms it lapsed around 25 Sep 2026 and no renewal has been traced — IT firms now fall back on the amended s.6 (9/48, 11-hour ceiling, 144 hours a quarter)teamleaseregtech.com ↗Secondary source
Notes on Uttar Pradesh
- →Since 19 Nov 2025 the Act does not apply to shops or commercial establishments employing fewer than 20 employees (s.3(1)(g)); those with 20 or more must register online within six months of commencement (s.4-B).
- →The 2025 amendment widened “commercial establishment” to medical practitioners, architects, consultants, service platforms and delivery services (s.2(4)) and “employee” to persons engaged through outsourcing agencies (s.2(6)(d)).
- →Secondary sources report a 7 Aug 2023 notification adding IT/ITES establishments to Schedule II (freeing them from opening/closing hours and the close day). Not fetched; unverified.
- →OSH Code, 2020: secondary trackers report UP notified final Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Rules, 2026 on 27 Aug 2026 (No. 962/XXXVI-03-2026-1903305). Not fetched; if confirmed, the Code's 8-hour day for commercial establishments sits awkwardly beside the amended s.6 — Khaitan flagged the same tension.
Verify before you rely on it. State rules are amended by notification, exemptions for IT/ITES establishments are often time-bound and renewed separately, and the Labour Codes continue to be brought into force state by state. This page records what we could verify against a named source at the time of writing — it is general information, not legal advice, and it does not replace reading your state's current rules or asking your compliance advisor.
Keeping to these limits in practice
Limits are only enforceable against a record. Workclave captures every work session with its start, stop and breaks, applies your workspace's shift and break rules, and produces the statutory attendance register from the same data — so daily, weekly and overtime totals are computed as work happens rather than reconstructed at month end. Multi-state employers can configure rules per workspace.
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