Indian HR and employment terms, defined plainly.

A statutory retirement savings scheme under the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. Employee and employer each contribute 12% of PF wages, subject to a statutory wage ceiling long standing at ₹15,000 a month. Generally applies to establishments with twenty or more employees, and coverage continues even if headcount later falls.

The wage base on which provident fund is calculated. Broader than many employers assume: courts have held that allowances ordinarily, necessarily and uniformly paid to all employees form part of it. A structure with a token basic and a large uniform allowance is the most commonly challenged arrangement in Indian payroll.

The monthly return an employer files with the EPFO showing each member's wages and contributions. The document to ask a contractor for when verifying their compliance — a compliance certificate asserts, an ECR evidences.

A permanent number linking all of an employee's provident fund accounts across employers. Employers must ensure every member has one, KYC-verified, and must update the exit date on separation — failing to do so leaves former employees unable to withdraw their own money.

The pension component of the provident fund system. Of the employer's 12% contribution, 8.33% is directed to EPS, subject to the statutory wage ceiling; the balance goes to the provident fund account.

A contributory health and social security scheme under the ESI Act, 1948, covering medical care, sickness, maternity, disablement and dependants' benefit. Applies in notified areas to establishments at a defined threshold, for employees earning up to a monthly wage ceiling long standing at ₹21,000.

ESI runs on two fixed periods a year — April to September and October to March. An employee whose wages rise above the ceiling mid-period continues to be covered until the end of that period, with contributions payable on the higher wages. Stopping deductions the moment the ceiling is crossed is the most common ESI error.

A non-Indian national working in India, or an Indian employee working in a country with which India has a social security agreement. A separate provident fund framework applies, and the ordinary wage ceiling does not apply in the same way — which materially changes the cost.

A person employed in manual, skilled, unskilled, technical, operational or clerical work, as defined under the Industrial Disputes Act. Persons employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity are generally excluded. Status turns on duties actually performed, never on job title — a designation containing 'Manager' settles nothing.

The employer's internal fact-finding proceeding conducted before imposing a major penalty such as dismissal for misconduct. Requires a specific written charge, an independent enquiry officer, a genuine opportunity to respond and cross-examine, and a documented reasoned finding.

The document initiating disciplinary proceedings. Must state specific allegations of fact — dates, times, places, people — rather than conclusions. A charge alleging 'insubordination and unbecoming conduct' cannot be answered, and defects here decide the outcome more than any other single factor.

A notice calling on an employee to explain why action should not be taken against them. Precedes or forms part of the disciplinary process, and like the charge sheet must be specific enough to be capable of a meaningful answer.

The person conducting a domestic enquiry. Must be independent of the matter — not the complainant, not a witness, not the person who issued the charge sheet. Appointing the aggrieved manager is among the most common and most fatal procedural defects.

The payment due to an employee placed under suspension pending enquiry. Suspension without it converts a procedural step into a separate grievance.

Under the Industrial Disputes Act, termination of a workman's service for any reason other than punishment by disciplinary action, with defined exclusions such as voluntary retirement and superannuation. Redundancy is retrenchment, and it carries statutory notice, compensation and government notification requirements.

The principle that retrenchment within a category of workmen ordinarily follows reverse order of seniority, unless there is a recorded reason to depart from it. Selecting on performance without documenting the departure invites challenge.

A statutory attempt to settle an industrial dispute before a conciliation officer, ahead of formal adjudication. Employers arriving with a complete, well-organised record are in a materially stronger position, and many matters settle at this stage.

The person authorised to represent an employer in Labour Court proceedings and before conciliation authorities. A role few HR consultants have actually performed, and one that changes how a practitioner advises on every difficult exit.

A labour department official before whom conciliation proceedings are commonly held. Along with the Labour Cum Conciliation Officer, the first formal forum most employment disputes reach.

The closing account on separation — unpaid salary, leave encashment, gratuity, bonus and reimbursements, less any lawful recoveries. Statutory entitlements such as gratuity and provident fund are not a general fund from which contractual claims may be recovered.

A document confirming an employee's last working day and that they have been relieved. Widely required by prospective employers, and widely withheld as leverage for unserved notice — a practice with no sound basis that generates a disproportionate share of employment disputes in India.

A structured plan setting out performance deficiencies, specific and achievable objectives, a reasonable period and the support provided. A properly run PIP substantially strengthens an employer's position; one issued a fortnight before a decision already taken tends to have the opposite effect.

Certified rules governing conditions of employment and misconduct, required of industrial establishments above a defined size under the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946. The certified list of misconduct is the basis on which disciplinary action rests.

The default rules prescribed under the Standing Orders Act, which govern an establishment until its own standing orders are certified. Employers who never completed certification are being governed by a generic set they did not write and usually have not read.

Payment in lieu of serving a notice period. Whether it may be recovered from an employee who leaves early depends on the contract; whether it may be deducted from statutory entitlements is a separate question, and generally it may not.

The person engaging contract labour through a contractor at their establishment. Where the contractor fails to pay wages or deposit statutory dues, the liability can fall back on the principal employer — typically the largest unquantified exposure in Indian manufacturing, EPC and facilities-heavy businesses.

The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, which requires principal employers to register and contractors to be licensed, prescribes welfare facilities, and empowers government to prohibit contract labour in specified processes.

An arrangement where a contract labour structure is a device and the real employment relationship is with the principal employer. Assessed on who directs and supervises, whose premises and tools are used, and whether the contractor has an independent business — the vulnerable pattern being the same workers for years while the contractor changes at each tender.

Workers recruited in one state for employment in another, attracting additional statutory obligations. Routinely missed on EPC and construction sites where labour is brought in from other states.

An experienced HR leader carrying chief HR officer responsibilities part-time across a small number of companies, on a retainer rather than a salary. Distinct from project consulting in that the accountability is ongoing rather than transactional.

A third party that legally employs staff on a company's behalf in a jurisdiction where it has no entity. Sensible for the first few hires; the per-head cost and loss of control over terms and culture typically make an own entity preferable somewhere between ten and twenty-five people.

A multinational's own offshore centre, as opposed to an outsourced vendor. India hosts the largest concentration. The recurring failure is scoping roles as execution rather than ownership, which produces senior attrition from year two.

An HR role aligned to a business unit rather than to a functional specialism, responsible for translating business requirements into people decisions.

A mapping of required capability against actual capability by role, used to identify genuine training needs. The instrument that turns a training budget from reactive spending into a plan, and makes training defensible in a customer or regulatory audit.