Onboarding an Indian employee — the 30-day playbook

Indian onboarding has more moving parts than US or UK onboarding. There's the legal mechanics (offer letter signed, KYC verified, UAN linked, PF assigned), the statutory enrolment (ESI if applicable, PT enrolment confirmation), the operational set-up (bank account on payroll, salary structure applied), and the human experience (welcome kit, mentor, training calendar). Done well, the new hire's first salary lands on time, their first tax declaration is captured, and their experience matches the offer.

Pre-joining — 14 days before day 1

1. Offer letter signed by both parties. Acknowledgement on company letterhead.
2. Background verification (BGV) kicked off via AuthBridge, OnGrid or HireRight India. Costs ₹1,500-3,500, takes 5-10 working days.
3. PAN + Aadhaar copies collected. Aadhaar consent for UAN linkage.
4. Bank account details collected for salary credit (account number + IFSC).
5. Previous UAN provided by candidate (if they had prior PF coverage).
6. Form 11 (PF declaration) signed by the candidate.
7. Tax regime preference captured (old / new) — defaults to new regime if not declared.
8. Investment / HRA declarations captured for the tax year (used for TDS computation).

Day 1 essentials

• Welcome email with company handbook, PoSH policy, leave policy, IT-security policy.
• Issued laptop, accounts (Slack, GSuite, etc.) provisioned.
• Reporting manager 1:1 scheduled.
• First week training calendar shared.
• Health insurance enrolment confirmed; e-card issued.
• Buddy / mentor introduced.

First-week compliance actions

1. PF — file joining ECR on EPFO portal with the employee's UAN. Aadhaar-verified UAN means auto-transfer of prior PF balance.
2. ESI — if employee is below ESI ceiling, enrol via the ESIC portal and issue Insurance Person card.
3. Salary structure assignment in payroll — Basic, HRA, LTA, Special, statutory contributions all set.
4. TDS opening declaration captured — regime, exemptions, investments, HRA rent paid.
5. Payroll month-end inclusion confirmed.

30-day check-in

• First payslip received correctly with all statutory deductions reflected.
• PF passbook updated on the EPFO portal — employee can verify.
• Reporting manager runs the 30-day check-in conversation. Capture any onboarding friction.
• BGV report reviewed — confirm clean or escalate flagged items.
• Tax declaration revisited — any updates the employee wants to make based on their actual financial situation.

What can go wrong (and how to prevent it)

1. PAN mismatch — wrong PAN captured at offer stage. Cleanup requires re-filing 24Q. Prevention: verify PAN against the income-tax portal at onboarding.
2. UAN duplication — employee had a previous UAN they forgot to disclose. The new UAN creates a parallel PF account. Cleanup: file Form 11 plus consolidate via EPFO. Prevention: ask explicitly at offer stage.
3. ESI miscoverage — employee earning above the ESI ceiling enrolled in ESI by mistake. Refund possible but slow. Prevention: verify gross monthly against ceiling at onboarding.
4. Tax regime confusion — employee declares old regime to get HRA exemption but doesn't have rent proof. TDS under-deduction at year-end. Prevention: collect rent agreement + landlord PAN at declaration time.
5. Bank account mismatch — typo in account number. First salary bounces. Prevention: send a ₹1 test credit before the first full salary.