IndiaEmploymentWhitePaper· 15.75%–20%+of gross salary / CTC basis Employer Statutory Cost 12.75%–42%+incl. TDS Employee Cost INRIndian Rupee Currency 15–21/days/year Average paid leave EOR CTCPayroll READING LOGIC ROLE-BASED READING PATH HR HR 12347811 37891011 EOR EOR / 568910 12891011 EOR CTC grosssalary take-homepayPayroll TDS PF/ESI / 01281011 2457910 EOR READING LOGIC EOR CHAPTER 00 002026 PREFACE·WHYINDIAEMPLOYMENTREQUIRESANEWREADINGIN2026 2026“”“”“” 00·PREFACE 2026 2026 WHYINDIAEMPLOYMENTNEEDSANEWDECISIONFRAMEWORK ITBPO/ITES 5 FOCUSAREAS EORCTC 2026“”“”“”EOR TMX EDITORIAL INSIGHT “”“” CORE READING LOGIC HR 01/148 0.1 2026 KEYCHANGESININDIAEMPLOYMENTENVIRONMENT LABOUR CODES 2025 11 21FAQ“” EOR BOUNDARY 02 EOR EOREOR“” FOREIGN EMPLOYEES BusinessVisaEmploymentVisaFRROshadowpayroll InternationalWorkerPFSSA/CoC PAYROLL STRUCTURE “”“” CTC grosssalary take-homepay EPF/EPS ESI EDLI gratuity professionaltaxTDS STATE VARIATION “”EPF ESI TDSFRROShops&Establishments MANAGEMENT IMPLICATION Bengaluru Hyderabad Mumbai Pune DelhiNCR ChennaiGujarat EDITORIAL CONCLUSION 2026“”“” 0.2 WHOSHOULDUSETHISWHITEPAPER HREPF/ESI TDS EOR EOR Payroll PE TMX “”“” 0.3 HOWTOUSETHISWHITEPAPER EOR 04 01 02 GCC EOR HRPayrollCTC grosssalarytake-home EPFESI gratuity TDS EOR RECOMMENDED READING PATH HR 0.4 KEYTERMS&DEFINITIONS EOR PE EMPLOYEROFRECORD· PERMANENTESTABLISHMENT· HREORPE CTC TDS COSTTOCOMPANY· TAXDEDUCTEDATSOURCE· gratuityCTC InternationalWorker FRRO FOREIGNERSREGIONALREGISTRATIONOFFICE EmploymentVisa PFPFPF EPF/EPS PF PROVIDENTFUND· EPFEPS EPF EPSEDLI SSA/CoC ESI SOCIALSECURITYAGREEMENT/CERTIFICATEOFCOVERAGE EMPLOYEES’STATEINSURANCE· SSACoCPF Shops&Establishments Gratuity Full&FinalSettlement gratuity CHAPTER 01 INDIARECRUITMENTMARKETOVERVIEW 2026 1.1 3.1% COUNTRYANDLABOURMARKETOVERVIEW 202515 2026 56.1%202512 7.6% KEYVARIABLES IMF2026REALGDPGROWTHFORECAST AIBengaluru Hyderabad Pune ChennaiMumbai DelhiNCRPuneChennai Pune Gujarat TamilNadu Maharashtra PLFS2025 153.1%2025202512 1556.1%53.4% MANAGEMENT IMPLICATION “” 08/148 1.1 Continued FIVERECRUITMENTSCENARIOSFORCHINESECOMPANIES 02 ITAI BPO/ITES AI/ML TMX “” EORPF EDITORIAL CONCLUSION “”“” 1.2 7 KEYEMPLOYMENTCITIESANDROLEDISTRIBUTION CITYLOGIC BengaluruAI/MLITGCCBengaluru HyderabadITGCCBengaluru Hyderabad 10/148 1.2 / CITY-ROLEFITANDENTRYCONSIDERATIONS CITY SELECTION RULE DelhiNCR MumbaiBengaluruAI Bengaluru Hyderabad PuneChennai Pune Gujarat COMPLIANCE NOTE 1.3 RECRUITMENTMARKETTRENDSIN2026 2026GCCAIBPO/ITES 02 GCC GCCGCCAI BPO/ITESoffer 03 AI BPO/ITES AIIT STRATEGIC READING “”“” 1.4 CTC SALARYSTRUCTUREANDHIRINGCYCLEOVERVIEW CTCCTCCosttoCompanygratuityCTC PF ESI gratuity AI/ML EOR BengaluruMumbaiHyderabadPune DelhiNCR CTC grosssalarytake-homepayoffer TMX PAYROLL ADVISORY NOTE 13/148 1.4 COSTITEMSTOVERIFYBEFOREHIRING “”EOR COMMON MISJUDGMENTS CTCEOR CHAPTER 02 02OPPORTUNITIESANDRECRUITMENTCHALLENGESFORCOMPANIESENTERINGINDIA 2.1 KEYOPPORTUNITIESFORCOMPANIESENTERINGINDIA 02 SaaSB2B ITBPO/ITES GCC AI L1/L2AIIT STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITY 2.1 Continued 5 MANUFACTURINGANDENGINEERINGSERVICEDEMAND ENGINEERINGROLES TMX ENGINEERING EMPLOYMENT NOTE RISK LINKAGE FRROInternationalWorkerPF 16/148 2.2 KEYRECRUITMENTCHALLENGESININDIA HR 02 01 EPF ESI TDSFRROShops&Establishments AI/MLGCC EOR offerCTC grosssalary take-homepayPF ESIgratuity EOREOR BusinessVisa EmploymentVisaFRROshadowpayroll InternationalWorkerPF SSA/CoC MANAGEMENT CONCLUSION “”“”JDEOR TMX 17/148 2.3 ROLESSUITABLEFORFIRST-WAVEHIRINGININDIA MARKETENTRY CUSTOMERDELIVERY BDPE L1/L2EOR TECHNOLOGY SHAREDSERVICES BPO/ITES AI/ML GCC SOP AI/MLGCC HIRINGRULE ENGINEERING 2.4 RECOMMENDEDSETUPFORTHEFIRSTINDIATEAM “” 1—5 /EOR 5—20 02 “”“”HR 20 GCC 03 04 FRROPF 2.4 DECISIONCHECKLISTBEFOREBUILDINGTHEFIRSTINDIATEAM CHAPTER 02 SUMMARY EORHR Payroll CHAPTER 03 ONBOARDINGRULESANDEMPLOYMENTCONTRACTS “offer” 3.1 3 RECRUITMENTANDONBOARDINGPROCESSININDIA “offer” CHECKPOINTS EPF/ESITDS CORE PRINCIPLE offer COMMON RISK CTCPF/ESI 21/148 3.1 ONBOARDINGPROCESSANDRISKCONTROLPOINTS EOR NOTE EOREOR/IP 3.1 COMMONONBOARDINGDOCUMENTS DOCUMENTATION RISK PANPF/ESI 3.2 12 EMPLOYMENTCONTRACTININDIA offerletter CONTRACTAREAS CTCgratuityPFCTC CONTRACT ALIGNMENT POSH 24/148 3.2 KEYEMPLOYMENTCONTRACTCLAUSES 3.2 Continued SALARY,REMOTEWORK,CONFIDENTIALITYANDIP 01 02 CTC EOR/IP CHAIN EOREOR 26/148 3.3 3–6 PROBATIONPERIOD “” RECORDS PROBATION MANAGEMENT 27/148 3.3 COMMONPROBATIONPERIODSANDMANAGEMENTFOCUS TERMINATION NOTE “”“” CONFIRMATION 3.4 EMPLOYEECLASSIFICATION EMPLOYEE FIXED-TERM CONTRACT LABOUR PART-TIME CONSULTANT WORKMAN WorkmanNon-workman “manager”workman 3.4 EMPLOYEEVSCONSULTANTASSESSMENTFACTORS MISCLASSIFICATION RISK CLASSIFICATION RULE 3.5 12 EMPLOY