INDIA LAW BY ASSUREOFFICE

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Practical Indian tax, financial reporting, labour, state law and business compliance guides for CAs, accountants and businesses.

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25 articles

Employment & Benefits2026-10-18Karnataka

Karnataka Gig-Worker Compliance: What Must a Platform Check Before Suspending a Worker?

A platform should examine the effect of an account restriction before calling it a temporary technical measure. Karnataka’s gig-worker legislation defines termination broadly enough to include materially restricting access, blocking an account and suspension, regardless of duration. A two-day restriction can therefore require a legal assessment even though the worker’s contract remains on the system.

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Employment & Benefits2026-10-18Rajasthan

Rajasthan Gig-Worker Law: Is Your Business an Aggregator or Only a Platform Customer?

A Jaipur restaurant purchasing deliveries and a company operating a delivery marketplace do not necessarily have the same role. Yet calling the restaurant a customer is not enough to settle its position. The Rajasthan legislation uses a broad aggregator definition, including entities coordinating with aggregators to provide services. Classification needs the actual operating arrangement, not only the heading on an invoice.

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Employment & Benefits2026-10-18

ESI After a Salary Increase or Labour Code Wage Recalculation: When Does Coverage Change?

ESI should not normally stop in the same month merely because a covered employee receives an increment above the applicable wage ceiling. A current notification preserves employee status for the remainder of the contribution period where wages cross the ceiling after the period begins. Payroll must first establish coverage at the start of the period and then distinguish an increment, retrospective revision and correction of an earlier error.

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Employment & Benefits2026-10-18

EPF for Foreign Employees and Overseas Deputations: When Does a Certificate of Coverage Matter?

A certificate of coverage matters when an operative social-security agreement allows an employee to remain in one country’s system during a qualifying international assignment. It is evidence of the applicable coverage, not a general exemption from all employment law. The employer must identify the agreement, employee, assignment, covered legislation and certificate period before changing payroll.

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Employment & Benefits2026-10-18

New Hire Above the PF Wage Ceiling: Can an Existing EPF Member Opt Out?

A high joining salary does not, by itself, allow an existing EPF member to stop membership. Payroll must distinguish a first-time excluded employee from a continuing member, examine any full withdrawal or exemption and apply the scheme and wage ceiling operative on the relevant date. An appointment-letter waiver is not a substitute for that analysis.

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Employment & Benefits2026-10-18

Gratuity for Fixed-Term Employees: What Happens When a Short Contract Ends?

A directly engaged fixed-term employee can qualify for gratuity when a qualifying contract ends without completing the ordinary five-year period. The current official position requires at least one year of service under the contract. It does not mean every person described as contractual receives gratuity immediately, and it does not make agency labour the principal employer’s direct fixed-term workforce.

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Employment & Benefits2026-10-18

Do Contractors, Trainees and Remote Staff Count Toward Labour-Law Thresholds?

They can, but the answer changes with the obligation. Indian employment law does not use one universal company headcount. An employee, worker, contract labourer and statutory apprentice are different legal categories. An establishment may be covered by one chapter while another duty has a different threshold, counting unit or look-back period.

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Employment & Benefits2026-10-18Maharashtra

BOCW Cess Paid Twice in Maharashtra? Reconcile Owner Payments and Contractor Deductions

A construction-cess demand can appear to duplicate an owner’s advance payment, a contractor’s bill deduction or a collection made during building approval. The correct response is a project-specific reconciliation showing what was due, what was collected, what reached the welfare board and what was credited in assessment. A receipt bundle without that connection may leave the apparent duplication unresolved.

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Employment & Benefits2026-10-18Delhi

Does an Office Renovation in Delhi Require BOCW Registration and Construction Cess?

An office renovation in Delhi can involve building or other construction work even when nobody constructs a new building. Alteration, repair and maintenance fall within the statutory language. A tenant-funded fit-out, civil partition work or installation project therefore needs assessment before the team assumes that an existing occupancy certificate or the contractor’s invoice settles labour compliance.

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Employment & Benefits2026-10-18Maharashtra

Hiring Workers Directly from Another State in Maharashtra: Is Migrant-Worker Compliance Still Relevant?

Yes. Direct recruitment does not remove the need to assess inter-State migrant-worker duties. The OSH Code definition reaches workers recruited directly by an employer and, within its wage-linked scope, workers who move independently to another state and obtain employment there. The older assumption that coverage requires recruitment through a contractor is therefore an unsafe starting point for Maharashtra employers in 2026.

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Employment & Benefits2026-10-18Karnataka

Hiring a Housekeeping Contractor in Karnataka: What Must the Principal Employer Check?

A Karnataka business engaging a housekeeping agency should check the workers, workplace and payment evidence before treating the agency’s invoice as a complete compliance file. Outsourcing the employment relationship does not outsource every duty of the establishment. The principal employer has direct welfare responsibilities and, where the OSH contract-labour provisions apply, exposure when the contractor fails to pay wages.

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Employment & Benefits2026-10-18

Does the Labour Code 50% Wage Rule Mean Basic Pay Must Be Half of CTC?

No. The Labour Code wage definition does not say that every employment contract must show basic pay equal to half of cost to company. It defines statutory wages, identifies exclusions and adds back the excess when the specified exclusions exceed half of the relevant remuneration. CTC is an employer’s commercial presentation. It may contain provisions, benefits and costs which do not belong in that statutory calculation.

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