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How is an appointment letter different from an offer letter?

The offer letter invites someone to join. The appointment letter is the employment contract that takes over once they do. In practice many companies in India issue only one document and treat it as both, which works until a dispute, at which point the missing terms are the ones being argued about.

An appointment letter carries the terms the offer letter usually skips: confidentiality, intellectual property, the leave entitlement, the disciplinary process, transfer and deputation, and the grounds on which employment can end. It is issued on or shortly after the joining date and signed by both sides.

what an appointment letter should cover

What attendance record does a small employer have to keep?

A record of days worked, leave taken and days lost for each employee, kept as the month goes on. Under the state Shops and Establishments Act this sits alongside the wage register, and most states now accept it in digital form.

The record serves three purposes at once: the payslip, the contribution returns, and the leave balance that will be encashed when someone leaves. A single source for all three is the point.

attendance regularisation

When is statutory bonus paid?

Within eight months of the close of the accounting year, which for most companies means by the end of November for a year ending in March. Many employers in India pay it before the festival season instead, which is earlier than required and generally welcomed.

The bonus register and the return are part of the same obligation. Paying the money without keeping the record leaves the compliance half done.

the statutory compliance checklist

How long can probation run, and what ends it?

Three to six months is the normal range in India, and the length comes from the appointment letter rather than from a central statute. What ends it is a confirmation letter. Where none is issued, the employee is usually treated as confirmed by conduct once the period has passed and they are still working.

Probation does not suspend anything statutory. Provident fund enrolment, continuous service for gratuity and maternity entitlement all run from the actual date of joining.

how probation works in India

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