What should an offer letter include, and is there a format I can use?
An Indian offer letter should state the job title, start date, place of work, who the person reports to, the CTC with its break-up, benefits, the probation period, the notice period on both sides and the conditions the offer depends on; Keka and RazorpayX publish free formats to start from, for standard, executive, internship and remote roles. Since the Labour Codes took effect on 21 November 2025, every employee must also get a written appointment letter, and allowances are capped at 50% of CTC, which raises the base for PF and gratuity, so check the salary structure before you send it. Have the candidate sign and return the letter, since it binds when it is in writing and signed by both sides, and put confidentiality and IP assignment in a separate agreement such as the one on Startup India.
An employer's guide, from an Indian payroll company, to the four Labour Codes that took effect on 21 November 2025 and replaced 29 older laws, covering the new wage definition, fixed-term gratuity, appointment letters and gig-worker social security.
This is the direct answer to the 'can't I just run them as a consultant on invoices?' temptation. It lays out the control, integration, economic-dependence, and mutuality tests Indian courts actually apply, and it is blunt that courts take a pro-employee stance: misclassification means regularisation, back wages, and back-dated PF/ESI/gratuity plus interest and penalties. It also draws the honest line on where a genuine contractor fits (short, project-scoped work, own invoices, multiple clients) versus a full-time person under your direction who is legally an employee.
Indian courts weigh control, integration, economic dependence, and mutuality of obligation, not the label on the invoice, so a full-time 'consultant' under your direction reads as an employee
Getting it wrong means back-dated PF, ESI, and gratuity plus interest and penalties, catch-up bills that routinely run into lakhs for one senior hire
Contractors genuinely fit short, project-scoped work where the person invoices in their own name and serves other clients; your first core hire almost never qualifies
Keka's guide, updated August 2026, to what an Indian offer letter covers (role, location, CTC break-up, benefits, probation, notice period and conditions) with eight downloadable templates for different roles.
Six offer letter samples (standard, executive, internship, remote and more) and a note that an Indian offer letter should be in writing and signed by both parties to bind.
This is a ready-to-fill IP assignment and confidentiality agreement hosted on the government's own Startup India portal, so it is drafted for Indian law and free to use. It gives a non-lawyer the actual assignment and confidentiality language to adapt for a developer and get signed. Treat it as a starting point: it is written employer to employee, so swap the party labels for a contractor engagement and, ideally, have a lawyer glance at the final version.
