HR the rules in India is not one rule. It is six or seven separate streams, each with its own threshold, its own register and its own deadline, run by different bodies.
Most failures are not refusals to comply. They are a threshold crossed without anyone noticing, or a register nobody kept.
Which duties attach at which headcount?
| Threshold | What starts |
|---|---|
| 10 employees | Internal Committee under the POSH Act |
| 10 employees | ESI, where wages are up to 21,000 a month |
| 20 employees | Provident fund under the 1952 Act |
| 20 employees | Payment of Bonus Act |
| 50 employees | Creche facility under the maternity rules |
The thresholds cluster between 10 and 20, so a growing firm crosses most of them in a single year. Put a review on the calendar at 10, 20 and 50 rather than discovering a duty at an inspection.
What does PF require?
A 12% employee deduction matched by the employer, with a legal wage ceiling of 15,000 a month, filed monthly. Each employee carries a UAN that follows them between jobs, so a new joiner's existing account should transfer rather than duplicate.
Rules and filings sit with the Employees Provident Fund Organisation, under an Act dating from 1952.
What does ESI cover?
Medical and cash benefits for covered staff, funded at 3.25% from the employer and 0.75% from the employee, under the 1948 Act. The Employees State Insurance Corporation says "ESIC provides reasonable Medical Care for self and family from day one of entering into insurable employment."
ESIC also says "ESIC provides 70% of average daily wages in cash during medical leave, upto 91 days in two consecutive benefit periods." That is a benefit your staff lose if the sign-up was never filed, which makes enrolment a day-one task rather than a month-end one.
What does the POSH Act require?
A properly set up Internal Committee, a published policy, training, and an annual return. The Press Information Bureau says the 2013 Act "mandates the establishment of Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) in organisations with ten or more employees and emphasises not only a structured redressal mechanism but also proactive measures such as awareness, sensitisation and capacity-building."
The committee needs an external member to be valid. That single omission invalidates inquiries that have already run.
What does maternity cover require?
26 weeks of paid leave for the first two children, and a creche once you pass 50 staff. For covered staff ESIC says "ESIC provides 100% of average daily wages in cash up to 26 weeks in confinement and 6 week in case of miscarriage, during maternity leave and 12 weeks for commissioning mother and adopting mother."
The creche duty is the one firms miss, because it needs a room and a budget line rather than a policy paragraph.
What is owed as legal bonus?
Between 8.33% and 20% of wages, for staff earning up to 21,000 a month, computed on a ceiling of 7,000 or the scheduled minimum wage if higher. Payable within 8 months of the accounting year end, whether or not the business profited.
Which state-level duties are easy to miss?
- Professional tax. Levied by state, and several states levy none at all. A multi-state employer owes different amounts in each.
- Labour welfare fund. Applies in some states only, with its own deposit date.
- Shops and Establishments sign-up. Per premises, and it drives your earned-leave right.
- Minimum wages. Scheduled by state and by employment category, revised from time to time.
Firms running one national policy get the state layer wrong almost every time. The central framework is published by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, but the amounts are state law.
Which records does an inspector ask for?
Wage register, attendance register, leave register, PF and ESI challans with filing dates, bonus working sheet, POSH committee order and annual return, and training records with attendance by person.
Most of these are a by-product of running payroll properly. The exceptions are the POSH and training records, which are the ones firms reconstruct in a panic.
How do you keep this manageable?
Three habits. Review duties whenever headcount crosses 10, 20 or 50. Keep every register against the employee record rather than in separate files. Put every legal deadline in a calendar with a named owner.
One employee record carrying PF, ESI, bonus, leave and sign-offs is what makes the registers tally without a manual cross-check. That is what 247HRM legal the rules is for.