Shops, restaurants, cinemas to stay open 24/7: Seven important points about Model Shops and Establishment bill

New Delhi: Emphasising on the adage that the consumer is king, people will soon be able to shop, eat and watch movies at their convenience even at the most odd hours of the day as shops, restaurants and cinemas will be permitted to remain open 24X7. Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Model Shops and Establishment (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Services) Bill, 2016, to give establishments the flexibility to operate round the clock. Here is what Jaitley said in press-conference #The motive of the bill was to increase employment opportunities in the country # As malls work all seven days late at night, the small shops which have more than 10 workers will be given the flexibility to decide the timings and the days of work. #The interest of the workers in terms of mandatory weekly holiday, number of working hours per day, of course, have to be protected #The model bill allows women to work at odd hours putting an end to discrimination in the matters of recruitment, training, transfer or promotions. #Women will be allowed to work at night also. So, the employment opportunities for women will increase. But there will be lot of conditions for shelter, ladies toilet, adequate protection and transportation to be provided to them #The bill will now be sent to states and union territories to enable them to modify their individual Acts, if they so desire either by adopting the said bill as it is or after modifying its provisions as per their requirements,” the statement said. #The model bill would bring about uniformity in the legislative provisions, making it easier for all the states to adopt it and thereby ensuring uniform working conditions across the country and facilitate the ease of doing business and generate employment opportunities #The bill provides for exemption of highly skilled workers (for example workers employed in IT, biotechnology and research and development division) from daily working hours of 9 hours and weekly working hours of 48 hours subject to maximum 125 over-time hours in a quarter