How does attendance work across ten or twelve stores?

Each store is a site with a name, code, latitude, longitude and geofence radius. Staff check in by QR code at the store entrance, or by GPS within 500 metres for anyone doing home eye tests or camp work. The area manager sees every store in one dashboard and each store manager sees their own.

Can a staff member be moved between stores without losing service history?

Yes, and this matters. Reassigning the site on the same employee record keeps the date of joining, the salary structure, the leave balance and every document issued. Creating a second employee entry at the new store is what breaks gratuity, which is calculated on continuous service.

Do we need appointment letters for retail floor staff?

Yes. Written appointment letters became compulsory for every employee under the Labour Codes that took effect on 21 November 2025. It covers the optometrist, the sales advisor, the fitting technician and anyone taken on for a festive season.

How are optometrist qualification records kept?

Documents uploaded during onboarding stay attached to the employee record, so a qualification certificate sits with the person rather than in a folder on somebody's desktop. Offrd does not verify a qualification or track a registration renewal date, so keep that check in your own process.

What about the extra hands taken on for a festive push?

Bulk import brings a batch in from one CSV and appointment letters generate from the same salary structure. Fixed term employees become eligible for gratuity after one year of service under the Labour Codes rather than five, which is worth checking if the same seasonal staff come back each year.

Does a chain need a POSH policy?

An employer with 10 or more employees is required to constitute an Internal Committee under the POSH Act, and a chain of even three or four stores is past that threshold. A written policy is the practical starting point, and Offrd builds one from a questionnaire.

What does a chain with 40 staff pay?

2,000 rupees a month at 50 rupees per active employee, covering documents, payroll calculation, attendance with geofencing at every store, and leave. One bill for the chain, not one per store, and no minimum headcount.

HR software for optical chains running several stores

An optical chain is a retail business with a clinical function inside it, spread across stores that each run their own floor. Offrd gives every store geofenced attendance, keeps one employment record when staff move between branches, and issues the letters and payslips centrally, at ₹50 per active employee a month.

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Last updated 24 August 2026

Two kinds of staff, one store

An optical store employs people doing quite different jobs in the same room. Optometrists run refractions and hold qualifications. Sales advisors work the frame wall on retail hours and often on incentives. Fitting and edging technicians work to a lab rhythm. A chain then multiplies that by however many branches it has.

Most retail HR software handles the sales side well and treats everyone else as a variation of it. Most clinic software does the reverse. The gap in the middle is where the paperwork ends up: a WhatsApp group per store, a register at the counter, and joining letters that differ from branch to branch because each manager adapted whatever they had.

The chain only really notices when someone leaves and the settlement has to be worked out, or when an inspection asks for the attendance register and the wage register for the same month and they do not agree.

Store level attendance without hardware in every branch

Each store is configured as a site: name, code, latitude, longitude and geofence radius. Staff check in by QR code at the store entrance, which needs nothing installed on their phone beyond a camera and no device bought for the branch. GPS check in within a 500 metre radius covers home eye tests and camp work.

Shifts are named schedules with grace periods, so an early opener and a late closer are two definable things rather than one blurred retail day. Holiday calendars cover national, regional and optional days, which matters for a chain operating across more than one state.

The area office gets a live dashboard with daily logs and location summaries across every store, and six standing reports: attendance log, attendance summary, monthly attendance, field work, geofence and leave requests. A store manager sees their own branch.

The transfer detail is worth spelling out. When a sales advisor moves from one branch to another, reassign the site on the existing record. Creating a fresh entry at the new store resets the date of joining, and gratuity is calculated on continuous service, so the mistake costs money years later rather than immediately.

One letter format across the chain

Written appointment letters became compulsory for every employee under the Labour Codes that took effect on 21 November 2025, and the obligation applies at the branch that opened last month as much as at the flagship.

Every letter comes from one generator with the chain's branding, so a letter issued at store nine is structurally the same document as one issued at store one. The salary structure balances to total CTC automatically, basic defaults to 50 percent of CTC under the Code on Wages 2019 rule, HRA follows from basic, and the store's PIN code resolves the professional tax state without anyone consulting a slab table.

The rest of the lifecycle works the same way: probation confirmations, increment letters, experience letters, relieving letters and a full and final settlement drawing on the same salary heads the payslips used. See the offer letter generator and the payslip generator.

Qualification documents uploaded during onboarding stay attached to the employee record, so an optometrist's certificate lives with the person. Offrd does not verify a qualification or watch a registration renewal date, so keep that check where it is.

Every store's payroll carries the same statutory logic. Provident fund at 12 percent from each side against the ₹15,000 Para 26A ceiling, ESI at 3.25 percent employer and 0.75 percent employee below a ₹21,000 gross, professional tax taken from the state each store's PIN code resolves to, and gratuity as wages by 15, by years of service, over 26. Offrd does the sums and hands them over. The ECR to EPFO and the 24Q to TRACES are filed by your CA, working from payroll exported in EPF return format.

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What a chain this size pays

Ten stores, 40 staff in total

₹2,000 a month

Geofenced attendance at every store, all document types, payroll calculation with EPF, ESI, professional tax and gratuity, and leave. One bill for the chain rather than one per branch.

If hiring is occasional outside the festive push, the pay per document plan usually costs less. An appointment letter is 10 credits, an onboarding is 15, a payslip is 2 per person, and packs start at ₹99 for 10 credits. Signup gives you 50 free credits with no card.

Questions from chain owners and area managers

How does attendance work across ten or twelve stores?: Each store is a site with a name, code, latitude, longitude and geofence radius. Staff check in by QR code at the store entrance, or by GPS within 500 metres for anyone doing home eye tests or camp work. The area manager sees every store in one dashboard and each store manager sees their own.
Can a staff member be moved between stores without losing service history?: Yes, and this matters. Reassigning the site on the same employee record keeps the date of joining, the salary structure, the leave balance and every document issued. Creating a second employee entry at the new store is what breaks gratuity, which is calculated on continuous service.
Do we need appointment letters for retail floor staff?: Yes. Written appointment letters became compulsory for every employee under the Labour Codes that took effect on 21 November 2025. It covers the optometrist, the sales advisor, the fitting technician and anyone taken on for a festive season.
How are optometrist qualification records kept?: Documents uploaded during onboarding stay attached to the employee record, so a qualification certificate sits with the person rather than in a folder on somebody's desktop. Offrd does not verify a qualification or track a registration renewal date, so keep that check in your own process.
What about the extra hands taken on for a festive push?: Bulk import brings a batch in from one CSV and appointment letters generate from the same salary structure. Fixed term employees become eligible for gratuity after one year of service under the Labour Codes rather than five, which is worth checking if the same seasonal staff come back each year.
Does a chain need a POSH policy?: An employer with 10 or more employees is required to constitute an Internal Committee under the POSH Act, and a chain of even three or four stores is past that threshold. A written policy is the practical starting point, and Offrd builds one from a questionnaire.
What does a chain with 40 staff pay?: 2,000 rupees a month at 50 rupees per active employee, covering documents, payroll calculation, attendance with geofencing at every store, and leave. One bill for the chain, not one per store, and no minimum headcount.

Put two stores on it and compare the month

Fifty free credits on signup, no card. Configure a store, set a shift, and see what the attendance and payslip record looks like before the chain commits.

Start free with 50 credits Book a demo See store attendance setup

Statutory rates follow published rules from the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation and ESIC, and the Labour Codes notified by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Several thresholds vary by state. This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm your own position with your CA or legal advisor. Questions to service@offrd.co.