Delhi Shops and Establishments Act,1954 — Physical PDF page 5 of 27

       (29) “summer” means the period covering the months of April, May, June, July, August and
              September;
       (30) “wages” means wages as defined in section 2 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (11 of
              1948);
       (31) “week” means the period of seven days beginning at mid-night on Saturday;
       (32) “winter” means the period covering the months of October, November, December,
              January, February and March;
       (33) “year” means the calendar year;
       (34) “young person” means a person who is not a child and has not completed his
              eighteenth year of age.
                                              COMMENTS
Sub-section 2(2) “Child”
     Although a child has been defined a person who has not completed his twelfth year of age
but it is to be read as fourteen year. It is pertinent to state that the employment of children as
domestic servants in dhabas (Roadside eateries), restaurants, hotels, motels, teashops, resorts,
spas or in other recreational centres has been banned from October 10, 2006 not only in Delhi
but all over India. The ban, notified by the labour ministry has been imposed under the Child
Labour (Prohibition & Regulation Act, 1986. The decision has been taken on the recommendation
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of the Technical Advisory Committee on Child Labour.
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     The committee had stated that the occupations mentioned were hazardous for children and
had recommended their inclusion in the occupations which are prohibited for persons below 14
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years under the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986.
Sub-section (5)—“Commercial Establishment”
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     (i) In the first instance a place in order to fall within the definition of “commercial
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establishments” must be “premises”. Secondly, it should be premises wherein (a) any trade,
business or profession is carried on, or (b) any work in connection with or incidental or ancillary
thereto is carried on. Sub-clause (b) is only ancillary to (a); Chief Commissioner, Delhi v.
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, New Delhi, 1974 II LLJ 21 (SC): 45
FJR 306: (1974) Lab IC 1004.
     (ii) A religious body is not an establishment within the meaning of the Act and, therefore, the
Act does not apply to such a body; Sanatan Dharam Sabha v. Johri Mal, 1982 RLR 512 (Del.
HC).
     Since the definition of commercial establishment includes the institution run for private gain,
obvious private educational institutions will be covered under the Act.
Sub-section 13—”Holiday”
     Holidays are off days granted by the employer to the employees either voluntarily or
compulsorily under the force of law. The Dictionary meaning of a ‘Holiday’ is ‘A day on which
ordinary occupations (of an individual or a community) are suspended; a day of festivity,
recreation or amusement’. (Oxford English Dictionary, Vol. V). The introduction of paid holidays
for workers, both in law, and in practice, is based on the one hand on the ‘employees’ right to
leisure and to the opportunity of developing his personality and, on the other, on the necessity of
preserving or restoring his health and strength in the interests of production and service to be
rendered. Holidays with pay, if they are properly utilized, may provide a real and complete escape
from the ideal means of relaxation and afford abundant opportunity of gaining material and social
experience under different conditions and workers generally undertake factory work because of
necessity.
     Employees return to their jobs with fresh enthusiasm and renewed reserves of strength after
spending their holidays under suitably restful conditions. This is confirmed by the conclusion
reached in the many recent studies of the psychology or work, especially in the field of
productivity. The quicker industrial rhythm and the monotony of the work caused by modern
mechanization render it essential to grant regular rest periods if workers are not to succumb to