Global HIRING & employment
Hire employees in India in 90 seconds
Normally, setting up a corporate entity abroad is a long, expensive process. But through Rippling EOR’s entities, you can start hiring and working with people abroad quickly and compliantly.
Currency
Indian Rupee (INR)
Languages
Hindi
and
21 additional
22 Languages
Assamese
Bengali
Bodo
Dogri
Gujarati
Hindi
Kannada
Kashmiri
Konkani
Maithili
Malayalam
Manipuri
Marathi
Nepali
Odia
Punjabi
Sanskrit
Santali
Sindhi
Tamil
Telugu
Urdu
Time Zones
IST, UTC +5:30
1. Hiring in India
Here’s what you need to know about hiring employees in India
Onboarding in India usually takes three days. Contracts must be in writing and signed by both parties (Rippling provides a contract template with necessary information).
Common Hiring Mistakes to Avoid
1. Terminating employment at will
There is no at-will employment in India. Employers can terminate employment only for reasonable cause or for misconduct. The employer may be subject to legal action if an employee is unjustly terminated.
2. Directly employing local workers in India.
Every foreign employer in India must obtain government permission to conduct business there. The business could be subject to fines and other penalties if proper permission is not granted.
3. Creating permanent establishment exposure in India.
Businesses may be taxed in India if they are perceived as having a “permanent establishment.” To avoid this, foreign companies mustn't give their employees the power to enter into contracts with Indian companies.
4. The use of temporary workers (through staffing services agencies) without government permission.
Temporary staffing is a recent human resource trend in India. Many foreign employers, especially those in the services sector, are now hiring temporary employees (temps) from employee leasing firms. It is important to note that such a recruitment strategy may trigger the provisions of the CLRA, which could result in fines and taxes.
5. Extending your global employee handbook to employees in India without legal review.
Indian employment laws can be radically different from those in your home country. It is important to have an expert review any employee handbooks issued in India to ensure they comply with local regulations.
2. Benefits
Mandatory benefits
- Employees pension scheme
- Employees provident fund
- Private healthcare for uninsured employees is an optional benefit
3. Pay
Rippling EOR will ensures you’re compliant with minimum wage requirements in federally and in all Canadian provinces.
See Rippling
Minimum wage
There is no minimum wage for Indian organizations in the private sector. The regulated “factory” sector has a complex set of minimum wage requirements depending on state and sub-state. There are approximately 2,000 different types of jobs for unskilled workers and over 400 categories of employment.
Overtime
- There are no overtime requirements for employees in the private sector.
- Overtime payment is mandatory for factory workers. For additional hours worked, industry practice is to compensate employees with pro-rate PTO or additional pay at 100% of their regular salary.
- Standard working hours are 8 hours/day and 40 hours/week.
Working week
Monday—Saturday
Payroll frequency
- Monthly
13th salary
The 13th salary in India is typically mandatory, paid as a percentage of the annual salary and within eight months of the end of the financial year.
4. Terminations
Requirements
Terminations in India are “for cause.” An employer must provide an employee with at least one month’s written notice, though the period varies for each state.
Severence
Severance pay is determined by the reason for termination. If the termination is due to redundancy, employees are entitled to the average of 15 days’ pay for every 1 year of continuous service, or part thereof in excess of 6 months. For employees who are dismissed, employers must pay termination benefits including leave accrued, gratuity payments (for employees with over 5 years of continuous service), payments in lieu of notice (if no notice is given), statutory bonus payment, and any other amounts due under the employment contract. For employees who are terminated due to misconduct, no entitlement to notice pay or severance pay is required.
5. Time Off
Rippling EOR automatically flags non-compliant sick leave policies and tells you how to fix it. If you'd like to give your employees more leave to match policies in other countries, you can do that too.
See Rippling
Sick leave
- Up to 12 days paid sick leave. Accrues at one day of sick leave per month.
- Employees paid at 100% of their average salary.
Maternity
Pregnant employees who have worked with the same employer for 160 days in the last year are entitled to 26 weeks of paid leave. 8 weeks must be taken before the child's birth. The employee will receive 100% of their average salary during this period, and the employer will be responsible for this pay. The employee can extend leave without pay.
Paternity
None required by law
Parental
None required by law
Paid Time Off
PTO is established in the employment agreements. The minimum PTO is 15 days.
Holidays
There are numerous bank holidays in India. Holidays are dependent on the individual state.
6. Employer Costs
Employees’ Provident Fund
3.67%
Employees’ Pension Scheme
8.33%
Total
12.0%
7. Employer Taxes
Employee income tax
Individual income tax ranges from 5% to 30%.
India income tax comprises two regimes:
The New Personal Tax Regime (NPTR) and the old regime. Taxpayers have the option to choose either one of the regimes.
8. Holidays
Employees receive 10 paid public holidays. In India the holidays vary by state (there are 30 different states), religion, and local custom. Therefore, the government does not stipulate what days the employee have to use as a holiday, but rather allows them to allocate the 10 public holidays as they see fit.
9. Contractor Regulations
How to ensure contractors are properly classified as such. (And avoid fees, taxes, and fines.)
When a misclassification claim is raised by an independent contractor in India, the Indian courts assess various factors, like:
Supervision and Control
Companies should not directly supervise and/or control individual contractors. For example, a contractor can be asked to complete an assigned task within a stipulated period. However, if there are directions on when the individual works or where they work, that would increase the risk of the arrangement being considered a sham.
Equipment
Unlike employees, independent contractors are responsible for bringing their equipment and ensuring the work is completed on time. No reimbursements should be provided for the cost of equipment.
Compensation
Independent contractors are entitled to receive payments only when they have successfully performed services and have submitted invoices for that work.
Employee Benefits
Independent contractors do not receive benefits like paid leave, employee retirement benefits, social security contributions, overtime payments, etc.
Disciplinary Action
The company will not be able to take disciplinary action against the individual for any act of misconduct—they can only terminate the arrangement for breach of contract.
Exclusivity
Independent contractors should not be restricted from providing services to any other business.
Duration
Independent contractors cannot be engaged for long and continuous periods.
Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, legal or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.
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