Nagpur, Dec 8 (LatestNewsX) – The state government has tabled a new bill designed to lighten the regulatory load on small businesses while keeping worker safeguards intact. The proposal raises the mandatory registration threshold from 10 to 20 employees; firms with fewer than 20 workers would only need to give a simple business notice instead of a full registration. Daily work hours can now be as long as 10 hours—including rest breaks—so that the weekly maximum remains 48 hours. The quarterly overtime ceiling will climb to 144 hours (from 125), giving companies more flexibility to meet spikes in demand without sacrificing formal overtime checks, which should help raise pay and ensure overtime gets properly logged. Overtime will remain voluntary, but shifts may stretch to a maximum of 12 hours, up from the current 10.5‑hour limit (including breaks). For women on night shifts, the draft rules strengthen safety measures: mandatory pick‑up/drop‑off, well‑lit workplaces, at least two women on duty, and CCTV monitoring. Maharashtra, India’s most economically dynamic state with extensive industrial and service sectors, aims to spur growth by trimming the compliance burden on small firms while safeguarding employees under existing laws. These operational reforms are projected to boost the state’s economy by easing administrative hurdles. “To align with the reform if regulations and procedures related to Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living, it was considered necessary to reduce the compliance burden on smaller establishments. It was also considered necessary to provide operational flexibility of working hours without changing the fixed limit of weekly 48 hours of work,” said the bill. sj/pgh
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