All shops and establishments in Himachal Pradesh are required to register under the Department of Labour, Government of Himachal Pradesh if they want to carry out trade of products or services in the state.
For the sake of the Act, the term 'shops' refers to all premises where trade and business are dealt with or services rendered to customers and clients. This encompasses offices, store-rooms, godowns, sales depots or warehouses, whether in the same premises or otherwise, used in connection with such trade or business.
Within thirty days of the commencing work, if the establishment falls under this Act, the employer is bound to submit the correct application form to the respective Inspector of the Labour Department. This form is also called Form - 1 and used to apply for the registration of the establishment and grants the business owner the certificate as well. This process can, however, only be completed after the necessary fees as prescribed by following the Fee Schedule.
Upon receiving all the application forms, the supporting documents, and the payment receipt for the prescribed fee, the Inspector shall verify the information provided and after being satisfied on the correctness of the statement, register the establishment and issue a registration certificate to the employer of the establishment.
The employer or business owner, who is hiring, is forced to intimate the Inspector of the area on the working hours, and intervals for the rest of the employees. This information has to be mentioned in Form No-6 within fifteen days of the date of registration of the establishment. As per the amendment in the Act carried out in 2004, the registration of an establishment and the Shop Licence in Himachal Pradesh is valid for five years. Between 90 days to a month before the expiration, the same licence has to be renewed.
All details relating to the registration or the renewal of the same application, are mentioned on Form No. 1. Furthermore, the charges for the same are added to the payment sheet. If the expired registration certificate is not received in 30 days from the date of expiration, the business owner will need to make a payment of 50% above the total fee which is the general payment amount.
The employer at every establishment is required to exhibit the certificate on the premises. Additionally, they have to show the notice in Form No-7 detailing the close-day, working hours and period of the interval, for the rest of the employees.
Business owners have to mandatorily inform the Chief Inspectors about any changes being made that were not implemented at the time of initially applying for the certificate.
These changes have to be made clear through Form No-4, which clarifies any changes to Form 1 but this can only be done 7 days after the changes were made.
The fees for these changes vary and are mentioned in the Fee schedule, with one rupee being charged for the form and an additional charge depending on the number of people working at the establishment. After receiving the application form and the fees, the Inspector shall amend the registration certificate, if necessary, and send it to the employer.