Employer guide
Shop and Office Employees Act Sri Lanka: hours, overtime, leave, holidays, pay and records (employer guide 2026)
The Shop and Office Employees (Regulation of Employment and Remuneration) Act No. 19 of 1954 governs most private-sector office and retail staff in Sri Lanka. It caps work at 8 hours a day and 45 a week, limits overtime to 12 hours a week at 1.5 times the hourly rate, gives one and a half days off each week, 14 days’ annual leave and 7 days’ casual leave, 84 days of paid maternity leave, and requires written terms, pay within set days and a 60% cap on deductions.
Who the Act covers
The Act applies to every “shop” and “office” in Sri Lanka. Section 68 defines a shop as any premises where retail or wholesale business is carried on, including residential hotels, places selling food or drink, and barbers and hairdressers. An office is any establishment for the business of a bank, broker, insurer, shipping company, company, estate agent, advertising or commission agent, or an accountant’s practice, and it includes the office or clerical department of any shop, factory, estate, mine, hotel or other business undertaking. The 2024 amendment added IT, KPO, BPO and back-office institutions serving foreign clients to the definition.
In practice that means almost every private-sector employee who works at a desk or a counter is a shop or office employee. Production workers in factories, estate labour and the trades listed under the Wages Boards Ordinance are governed by their Wages Board decisions instead, and the Factories Ordinance covers factory safety. The Act does not exempt private-sector managers: section 3(5) excludes only executive and managerial staff of public institutions from the hours limit.
Working hours, overtime and the 12-hour spread
| Rule | Limit | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Normal hours | 8 hours a day, 45 hours a week, excluding meal and rest intervals | s.3(1) |
| Daily spread | No more than 12 hours between starting and finishing on any day | s.3(3) |
| Overtime cap | 12 hours a week | Reg. 6 |
| Overtime rate | Not less than 1.5× the hourly rate | Reg. 7 |
| Hourly rate for monthly-paid staff | Monthly remuneration ÷ 30 ÷ 8, i.e. monthly ÷ 240 | Reg. 8 |
| Leave and holidays | Count as days worked when computing weekly overtime | Reg. 8A |
| Women and under-18s | Maximum 9-hour spread a day including overtime and intervals | Reg. 2(1) |
| Working elsewhere the same day | Hours aggregate across employers | s.4 |
Do this automatically
Humanised applies the Act automatically: hours and overtime at 1.5× from attendance data, leave balances with first-year proration, Poya and mercantile holiday rates, and payslips with every statutory line. From LKR 10,000/month for up to 15 employees, no setup fee.
See time and attendance softwareMeal and rest intervals
Section 9 and the Schedule to the Act set the intervals, which are excluded from the 8-hour count:
| If the working day includes | Interval | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. | One hour, starting between those times | Schedule para 1(a) |
| 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. | Half an hour, starting between those times | Schedule para 1(b) |
| 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. | One hour, starting between those times | Schedule para 1(c) |
| Any other continuous four hours | Half an hour at the end of each four-hour period, unless one of the intervals above falls in it | Schedule para 2 |
A 9 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. day therefore carries a one-hour lunch between 11 and 2 and a half-hour break between 4 and 6, giving 8 working hours. A night shift from 8 p.m. to 4.30 a.m. carries a half-hour break after each four hours. Where staff eat on the premises the employer must provide suitable facilities for meals (s.12(2)). Residential hotels, clubs, theatres, airport shops and airline offices may split the day with one interval of up to three hours under the regulations.
Weekly holidays, Poya days and mercantile holidays
| Holiday | Entitlement | Work on the day | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly holiday | One whole day and one half-day each week, paid if the employee worked at least 28 hours (excluding overtime) that week; may be given in that week or the next; accumulation beyond that only with the Commissioner’s written sanction | The Act sets no rate; employers pay overtime rates or give a substitute day by policy | s.5 |
| Mercantile (statutory) holidays | Paid holidays declared by the Minister, up to nine a year | Only with the Commissioner’s prior sanction, with a substitute paid holiday before 31 December or double pay | s.7(1)–(2) |
| Full Moon Poya days | Paid holiday on every Poya day | Permitted for a normal period at not less than 1.5× the daily rate | s.7A, s.7B |
Annual, casual and maternity leave
Section 6 gives shop and office employees paid annual and casual leave; the 2018 amendment rewrote maternity leave. The leave entitlements guide works through every rule and the leave calculator applies the proration.
| Leave | Entitlement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Annual leave | 14 days with full pay from the second year, taken in the year after it is earned; in the first year 14, 10, 7 or 4 days depending on the quarter the employee joined | s.6(1) |
| Casual leave | 7 days a year; in the first year one day for every two completed months | s.6(3)–(4) |
| Sick leave | No separate statutory entitlement; illness falls within casual leave unless the employer grants more | s.6 |
| Leave on termination | Balance of last year’s leave plus one day per completed month of the current year, or pay in lieu where notice is too short | s.6(6)–(7) |
| Maternity leave | 84 days: 14 before and 70 after confinement, for every live birth; 42 days otherwise. The two-child limit was removed in 2018 | s.18B as amended by Act No. 14 of 2018 |
| Nursing intervals | Two paid intervals in a nine-hour day for a child under one year: 30 minutes each with a crèche, one hour each without | s.18I |
Written terms, pay days and deductions
| Duty | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Written particulars | Give every employee the prescribed particulars of employment on the date employment starts | s.17 |
| Wage period | Not longer than one month | s.19(1)(b) |
| Pay day | Within 3 days of the period end for a weekly wage, 5 days for a fortnightly wage, 10 days for a monthly wage | s.19(1)(b) |
| Pay on termination | Before the end of the second working day after termination | s.19(1)(c) |
| Deductions | Only authorised deductions with the employee’s consent (advances, payments at the employee’s request, prescribed items); the total deducted at any one time may not exceed 60% of the remuneration due; statutory tax and court orders sit outside | s.19(1)(a) |
| Remuneration | Salary or wages including cost-of-living allowance, overtime pay and prescribed allowances | s.68 |
Records the Labour Department will ask for
- A prescribed notice listing employees, displayed at the workplace (s.18).
- A record of hours actually worked each day including overtime, holidays taken and leave taken (s.18).
- The remuneration register and the payslips issued; the Commissioner may call for records covering the previous two years (s.47).
- The written particulars given under s.17 and any changes to them.
- Sanctions obtained from the Commissioner for work on mercantile holidays or accumulated weekly holidays.
Attendance and payroll software keeps these automatically; the time and attendance record is the one most often requested in a dispute.
Women, young persons and night work
Section 10 fixes the minimum age of employment in a shop or office at 16 (raised from 14 by Act No. 1 of 2021). Women of any age and males under 18 may not be employed before 6 a.m. or after 6 p.m., with provisos: women over 18 may work until 8 p.m. in any shop or office, until 10 p.m. in hotels and restaurants, at any hour in prescribed residential-hotel work, and, since Act No. 28 of 2024, at any hour in IT, KPO, BPO and back-office institutions serving foreign clients. The 2024 Act also lets the Minister make regulations on security, transport and rest facilities for women employed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Factories follow the separate Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act.
Penalties and enforcement
Contravention is an offence prosecuted by or with the permission of the Commissioner General of Labour within six years (s.64). The fines in the consolidated text are small by today’s values (s.51: up to LKR 500 and/or six months; s.52: rising fines for non-payment of remuneration plus LKR 50 a day while it continues), but the practical exposure is larger: the Labour Department orders payment of arrears with the employee’s claim, a Labour Tribunal can add compensation, and unpaid overtime and leave are recovered for up to two years of records. Victimising an employee for a complaint is a separate offence (s.57).
Who is not covered: Wages Boards and the Factories Ordinance
Employees in trades with a Wages Board (tea, rubber, coconut, garment manufacture, security, printing, hotels and catering, and roughly forty others) take their hours, overtime, leave and minimum wage from the Wages Board decision for that trade, gazetted under the Wages Boards Ordinance No. 27 of 1941. The figures are broadly similar to the Act but must be checked against the decision. Factory premises follow the Factories Ordinance No. 45 of 1942 for safety, health and welfare, alongside the Wages Board for hours and pay. Where an employer runs both an office and a factory, the clerical staff are shop and office employees and the production staff are Wages Board employees. See the labour law map for the full list of Acts.
Amendments and the unified labour code
The Act has been amended three times since 2018: Act No. 14 of 2018 (maternity and nursing intervals), Act No. 1 of 2021 (minimum age 16) and Act No. 28 of 2024 (IT and BPO night work, definition of office). No amendment was passed in 2025 or so far in 2026. The Ministry of Labour has an expert committee drafting a single labour code to replace the existing Acts, with a draft promised for public comment and a target of end-2026; the 2023 draft Employment Act was never enacted. Until a new law is certified the 1954 Act applies as summarised here. This page is reviewed each January and April and within five working days of any amendment or Labour Department circular.
Shop and Office Act compliance checklist
- Written particulars issued on day one and updated on every change.
- Rosters keep every employee within 8 hours a day, 45 a week and a 12-hour spread, with intervals per the Schedule.
- Overtime capped at 12 hours a week and paid at 1.5× on the ÷240 hourly rate.
- One and a half days off each week; Poya and mercantile holidays given or paid at the statutory rate with the Commissioner’s sanction where required.
- Annual and casual leave tracked with first-year proration; maternity leave of 84 days.
- Salaries paid within 10 days of month end; deductions within 60% and with consent.
- Attendance, leave and remuneration records kept for at least two years.
Do this automatically
Humanised applies the Act automatically: hours and overtime at 1.5× from attendance data, leave balances with first-year proration, Poya and mercantile holiday rates, and payslips with every statutory line. From LKR 10,000/month for up to 15 employees, no setup fee.
See time and attendance softwareFrequently asked questions
Who is covered by the Shop and Office Employees Act?
Anyone employed in or about the business of a shop (retail or wholesale premises, hotels, food and drink outlets, barbers) or an office (banks, brokers, insurers, companies, agents, accountants, and the office or clerical department of any factory, estate, hotel or other business; since 2024 also IT, KPO and BPO offices serving foreign clients).
What are the working hours under the Shop and Office Act?
8 hours a day and 45 hours a week excluding intervals, with no more than 12 hours between starting and finishing on any day (s.3).
How much overtime is allowed and at what rate?
A maximum of 12 hours a week, paid at not less than 1.5 times the hourly rate; for monthly-paid staff the hourly rate is monthly remuneration divided by 240 (Regulations 6 to 8).
What meal and rest breaks does the Act require?
One hour if the working day includes 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; half an hour if it includes 4 to 6 p.m.; one hour if it includes 7 to 10 p.m.; otherwise half an hour after each four continuous hours (s.9 and the Schedule).
How many days off per week?
One whole day and one half-day each week, paid if the employee worked at least 28 hours excluding overtime that week (s.5).
What leave does the Act give?
14 days’ annual leave from the second year (14, 10, 7 or 4 in the first year by joining quarter), 7 days’ casual leave, and 84 days’ maternity leave for every live birth (ss.6, 18B).
When must salaries be paid?
Within 10 days of the end of a monthly wage period, 5 days for a fortnightly period and 3 days for a weekly period; on termination, before the end of the second working day (s.19).
What deductions can an employer make from salary?
Only authorised deductions made with the employee’s consent, capped at 60% of the remuneration due at any one time; statutory tax and court orders are outside the cap (s.19(1)(a)).
Can women work at night under the Shop and Office Act?
Women over 18 may work until 8 p.m. in any shop or office, until 10 p.m. in hotels and restaurants, and at any hour in IT, KPO and BPO offices serving foreign clients (Act No. 28 of 2024). Otherwise the 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. limit in section 10 applies.
Is the Shop and Office Act available in Sinhala?
Yes. The Department of Labour publishes the Act in Sinhala and Tamil; the English consolidated text is linked in the sources on this page.
What is the difference between the Shop and Office Act and the Wages Boards Ordinance?
The Act covers shop and office employees; workers in trades with a Wages Board (tea, rubber, garments, security, hotels and about forty others) take their hours, pay and leave from the gazetted Wages Board decision for that trade.
Related guides and tools
Sources. Shop and Office Employees (Regulation of Employment and Remuneration) Act, consolidated text with Regulations (NIOSH, Ministry of Labour); Shop and Office Employees (Amendment) Act No. 14 of 2018 (maternity, nursing intervals); Shop and Office Employees (Amendment) Act No. 1 of 2021 (minimum age 16); Shop and Office Employees (Amendment) Act No. 28 of 2024 (night work in IT/BPO offices); Department of Labour. This guide is general information for employers, not legal or tax advice; figures are checked against the sources on the review date shown above and again every 1 January and 1 April. See our editorial approach.