Guides
Written from live casework, dated, and reviewed. If a rule changes, the guide changes.
New to a term? The glossary explains every one in plain English.
Briefing your board on the Labour Codes: the five numbers to bring
What your board will ask about India's Labour Codes, and the five numbers you need ready before you walk in.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
Build vs. partner: running India shadow payroll in-house or outsourced
Five dimensions to weigh when deciding whether to build India shadow payroll in-house or partner with a specialist provider.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
Building the budget case: costing the Labour Codes for your CFO
A worked, illustrative model for the 50% rule, gratuity accrual, and International Worker PF — built for a CFO conversation.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
EPF for International Workers: how Para 83 works
Who counts as an International Worker under EPF Para 83, how the contribution base differs from domestic employees, and where employers go wrong.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
The 50% wages-deeming rule: how it recomputes your CTC, worked out
How the Code on Wages' 50% rule redefines 'wages' and what it does to gratuity and PF, with a full worked CTC example.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
Fixed-term employment: what it means for payroll and gratuity now
Fixed-term hiring is now a formal, pan-India status under the Codes — with mandatory parity and a new gratuity cost from year two.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
Form 16 under the Income-tax Act 2025 and the new regime
Form 16 is now anchored to §130 of the Income-tax Act 2025, and the new tax regime is the default. What that changes for year-end payroll.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
India's four Labour Codes: what changed for payroll on 21 November 2025
The four Labour Codes in one page — effective date, the five payroll changes that matter most, and what to re-check first.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
Gratuity's new math under the Social Security Code
How gratuity eligibility and the computation base changed under the Social Security Code, with a worked old-versus-new comparison.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
Gross-up mechanics for expat pay in India
Why net-pay promises explode into large employer costs, single vs iterative gross-up, and the India-specific components in the loop.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
HR's seat at the table: owning payroll compliance as a board-level risk
How the Labour Codes turned payroll compliance into a board-level risk, and concrete ways for HR to own the agenda.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
Inbound India payroll compliance checklist
An actionable checklist for inbound assignments to India: before arrival, first payroll month, ongoing monthly, year-end, and exit.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
Income-tax Act 2025 meets the Labour Codes: the full crosswalk
How each payroll-relevant change under India's four Labour Codes maps to its Income-tax Act 2025 treatment, section by section.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
International Workers and EPF: the current case-law position
The Stone Hill line of cases on EPF Para 83, what is settled versus contested, and the practical posture for employers today.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
Overtime and working hours under the OSH Code
The overtime multiplier is unchanged, but its base is not — what the OSH Code's hours rules mean for payroll.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
PF contributions and the new wage definition: who is affected, who isn't
How the Code on Wages' wage definition flows into PF — and why most employers won't see a contribution change yet.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
Perquisite valuation under the Income-tax Act 2025: what changed
The specified-employee threshold jumped from ₹50,000 to ₹4,00,000. Here is what that means for perquisite valuation and payroll.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
10 questions to ask an India shadow payroll provider
Ten concrete questions a GMS team should ask any India shadow payroll provider, each with what a good answer sounds like.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
Shadow payroll in India: the complete guide
When a foreign employer needs an India shadow payroll, what it must calculate, and where the new Labour Codes change the math.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
Social Security Agreements and the Certificate of Coverage, explained
What an SSA does, how a Certificate of Coverage works, detachment periods, and what happens when there is no agreement.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026
Tax equalisation in India, under the new Labour Codes and tax Act
Tax equalisation policy in one page: hypothetical tax vs actual tax, and where the Labour Codes and Income-tax Act 2025 shift the calculation.
Reviewed 13 Aug 2026