You signed, served your notice and joined, and the writing about you has started again. Within three months someone will decide whether you are confirmed, extended or something else, and most of what goes into that decision is fixed in the first two weeks, when goals are written down by whoever writes them first. This lesson teaches the subject first: what a probation clause is and is not, what the paperwork of a mid-year join does to your tax and your provident fund, and how a first review is built. Only then does it give the moves for the 90 days.
1. Probation. What your letter decides, what secondary sources say the older and newer model rules contain, and the questions that settle it.
2. Week-one paperwork. Your UAN, the provident fund history, the gratuity clock, the earlier-salary declaration, the tax regime and the dates in your papers.
3. Tax in a mid-year join. A worked year with two employers and three ways payroll can treat it.
4. The first review. The form, the cycle and the three things about it that you control.
5. The 30/60/90. A plan a manager recognises, and the moves behind it.
6. Drill and rubric. A first one-to-one you can rehearse, scored yes or no.
Skip it if you have not signed yet. Read it during your notice period, and read section 2 before day one.
Not advice. General information, and every example is invented.
General information for a book, not legal, tax, provident-fund or HR advice. Sources were read on 31 October 2026; check anything that matters to you against your own letter, your payroll and a chartered accountant. Every example in this lesson is invented and labelled. Where the author could not open a primary text, the page says "reported" or "the author's reading" and tells you what to ask.
1. Probation: the clause that decides the next three months
Goal. Know exactly what your probation terms are, in writing, before the first review, and what you are still unsure of.
Context. You have an appointment letter and probably an HR policy document. You joined a company in India, most likely a private software employer.
Constraints. No general probation length, confirmation rule or notice figure was verified against a primary text for this guide. Your letter, your policy and the rules that apply to your establishment decide.
Worked example. The three invented cases below, then the question list.
Check. You can write, in two lines, how long your probation is, what ends it, what happens if nobody says anything, and what notice applies.
Start from what is firm. The government's own release on the four labour codes, which came into force on 21 November 2025, describes appointment letters as mandatory for all workers (PIB, release of 21 November 2025). So you should have one, and it is the document that sets your terms. A probation period, the way you are confirmed and any different notice during probation are matters of contract and company policy. Everything else in this section is about what a letter usually leaves open.
Probation is a trial period in which the employer and the employee are both finding out whether the job works. It is not a separate kind of employment, and it does not suspend your other terms: your salary, your provident fund and your leave start on the day you join. What differs is what the employer may do at the end of it, and with what notice. Those two points are the ones to pin down.
The length: sources conflict, so ask
Summaries by law firms and HR sites say that the old Model Standing Orders of 1946 set probation at three months, and that a probationer could be ended without notice or pay in lieu under those orders. A single wiki page, with an edit history and no official text behind it, reports that newer Model Standing Orders notified on 8 May 2026 set probation at six months, extendable by up to three, with a written confirmation letter. The author could not open the Central text of either. The common range in Indian contracts is reported by HR blogs as six months or less; no survey was opened.
So the guide prints no length as the law. The safe reading is this: probation is whatever your letter and policy say; secondary sources say older orders use three months and newer ones, from 2026, use six; state shops-and-establishments rules can also differ, and no source read for this guide settles which applies to a software company. Ask HR which applies to your establishment, and ask in writing.
Confirmation, extension and notice
Three more points are open, and for each the guide gives you the question and not an answer.
- If nobody says anything at the end. No source found says you are confirmed automatically when probation ends unless the contract or standing orders say so. That is the author's reading of several secondary sources. Your letter may say "deemed confirmed", may say "confirmation is by letter", or may say neither. Find out which.
- Extension. If your letter allows probation to be extended, the usual practice is to do it in writing, with the reason. The author knows of no source that requires it, so treat it as good practice and not as a rule you can cite.
- Notice during probation. It is set by the letter or the policy, and secondary sources say some state acts set a minimum. No figure is printed here, because no rule for a software employer was verified.
INVENTED example: three letters, three different questions 1 min
Three engineers with invented letters. None is a real company's wording.
Letter A "Probation of [period]. Confirmation by written
letter after review."
Letter B "Probation of [period]; deemed confirmed if no
communication within [days] of its end."
Letter C "Probation may be extended by the Company."
---------------------------------------------------------------
Question that matters for each
A What if the review slips and no letter comes? Ask HR what
status you hold and which terms apply in that gap.
B Who is allowed to communicate, and how? Ask what counts.
C By how much, how many times, and with what notice to me?
The three letters leave three different gaps. Reading yours for the gap is the whole skill. The lesson is not what the law is; it is where your own paper is silent.
Put the questions in one short email to HR in week one, while it is a routine question and not a worried one. A template, in the author's words:
INVENTED example: the week-one email to HR 1 min
Subject: Probation and confirmation terms, [your name]
Hi [HR name],
I have read my appointment letter and would like to be sure I
have the terms right. Could you confirm in writing:
1. The length of my probation and the date it ends.
2. How confirmation happens, and what my status is if the
review has not happened by that date.
3. Whether probation can be extended, by how much, and how I
will be told.
4. The notice that applies to me during probation and after
confirmation.
5. Which policy or standing orders these terms come from.
Thanks, [your name]
You are not accusing anyone of anything by sending it. Companies that run payroll for hundreds of people answer it from a template. The answer, kept with your letter, is the first page of your evidence file (section 5).
Next stop: 2. Week-one paperwork that is easy to get wrong, 4 min
2. Week-one paperwork that is easy to get wrong
Goal. Hand over the four things that are easy to forget, to the right people, in week one, and check the result a month later.
Context. You changed jobs. You have a UAN from a previous job, a tax year that is part-way through, and dates in your offer that matter later.
Constraints. Several of the rules below rest on news reports and explainers, not on an official notice. Each is marked.
Check. You can name, for each item, who has it, what you sent and when you will check it.
Figure 13.1 shows the four hand-overs and the check a month on. Each one is explained after it.
Your UAN and your provident fund history
Your Universal Account Number, the UAN, stays with you across employers. The point of week one is to give the new employer your existing UAN and not let it create a new one, because your provident fund history and any transfer depend on one number.
News and explainer sites report that the provident fund body now moves your balance to the new employer's account on a job change without a separate request, when your UAN is active, linked with Aadhaar and has verified KYC. Reports say the transfer begins after the new employer deposits its first contribution, and that members who are not Aadhaar-seeded, or seeded but not verified, still have to apply by a form. The reports disagree on when this started, and the author found no official notice from the provident fund body or the government. So this guide does not say that your provident fund moves automatically. It says that it may, if the conditions above hold, and that you should check.
The check is simple. About a month after joining, open the member portal and read your service history. It should list your previous employer with an exit date and your new employer with a joining date. If the old exit date is missing, or your KYC is not verified, the automatic transfer can stall. Then apply by the form the portal names, and ask HR for help with the employer-side step.
INVENTED example: the month-one provident fund check 1 min
Invented person and dates.
Neha joins on 3 Nov and gives her existing UAN to HR.
6 Dec : she opens the member portal and reads her service history.
Old employer shows a joining date but no exit date.
What she does: asks her old HR to record the exit date, then
checks again after two weeks.
What she does not do: assume it will sort itself out.
The gratuity clock
Gratuity is paid on five years of continuous service, with listed exceptions, and the statutory ceiling is "currently ₹20 lakhs" as the Labour Ministry's FAQ of 30 December 2025 puts it. The new employer counts its own service. Whether your service with a previous employer counts for the new one is not a rule this guide can state; ask HR how service is counted, and write the answer down. For your own planning, treat a job change as a reset of the gratuity clock.
The earlier-salary declaration
If you join mid-year, your new payroll needs to know what your last employer paid you this tax year and what tax it deducted. Under the old Act that was a form with its own number. A successor under the Income-tax Act 2025 has been reported with a different number, but the author could not open the official page and so prints no number. Ask payroll for "the current form that declares my salary from my last employer", and give it the figures from your last employer's Form 16 or final payslip. Whether furnishing it is mandatory is disputed in the sources read, so the guide neither says you must nor that you need not. Give it anyway; section 3 shows why.
The tax regime
The new regime is the default under the Income-tax Act 2025, which is in force from 1 April 2026 (first tax year 2026-27). If payroll asks which regime to use for monthly deductions and you are unsure, ask a chartered accountant. Lesson 0 has the slabs and a comparison; the question that matters here is only which declaration payroll applies from your first month.
Background verification, and the dates in your papers
If background verification is still open, answer quickly and keep your relieving letter and payslips to hand. Then make a short list of dates from your own papers and put them in a calendar. The table says where each one lives.
Table: Date, Where to find it (6 rows)
| Date | Where to find it |
|---|---|
| Probation review and confirmation | Appointment letter; HR policy; the reply to your week-one email |
| End of any joining-bonus clawback | Offer letter, the repayment clause (lesson 12 explains clawbacks) |
| First stock vest, and any cliff | Grant letter or plan document |
| Bonus eligibility, and any cut-off for joiners | Ask HR; the offer usually says "subject to policy" |
| First payslip | Check it against the in-hand worksheet you made when you negotiated |
| Five years of continuous service | Gratuity eligibility; ask HR how service is counted |
Next stop: 3. Tax in the first year of a mid-year join, 4 min
3. Tax in the first year of a mid-year join
Goal. Understand why a mid-year job change can leave you owing tax or owed a refund at filing, and what to tell payroll to avoid a surprise.
Context. Tax on salary is deducted at source by each employer from what it pays you. Each employer estimates your year on its own. The new regime applies in the example, with its ₹75,000 standard deduction, its slabs and the rebate that makes income up to ₹12 lakh tax-free.
Constraints. The example pay is invented. The way payroll estimates your year is the author's reading of common practice; the exact rule for deduction at source (section 392 of the 2025 Act) was seen only through a search extract. Ask your payroll which method it uses.
Worked example. Below, with every step shown.
Check. You can compute the year's total tax yourself, and say which of three methods your payroll is using.
Tax on a year's salary is worked out on the whole year's taxable income, not on each employer's part. But each employer deducts only on the part it pays, and it does so using its own picture of your year. A mid-year join means two employers, two pictures, and a gap between the tax deducted and the tax due. The gap is settled when you file.
The year's tax, computed once
The invented person is Ravi. His old employer paid him ₹6,37,500 from April to September. His new employer pays him ₹8,50,000 from October to March. Gross for the year is ₹14,87,500. Under the new regime, one standard deduction of ₹75,000 applies to the year, giving taxable income of ₹14,12,500. The slab steps for 2026-27 are: nothing up to ₹4 lakh; 5% on the next ₹4 lakh; 10% on the next ₹4 lakh; 15% on the next ₹4 lakh. The rebate gives nothing here: the income is above ₹12 lakh, and the tax (₹91,875) is less than the income above that line (₹2,12,500), so marginal relief adds nothing.
Table: Step, Working, ₹ (6 rows)
| Step | Working | ₹ |
|---|---|---|
| ₹0 to 4,00,000 | nil | 0 |
| ₹4,00,000 to 8,00,000 | 4,00,000 x 5% | 20,000 |
| ₹8,00,000 to 12,00,000 | 4,00,000 x 10% | 40,000 |
| ₹12,00,000 to 14,12,500 | 2,12,500 x 15% | 31,875 |
| Tax before cess | 20,000 + 40,000 + 31,875 | 91,875 |
| Cess at 4% | 91,875 x 1.04 | 95,550 |
Surcharge is zero below ₹50 lakh, so the year costs ₹95,550. That is the number that does not change. What changes is when it is deducted.
Three ways payroll can see your year
Each employer sees its own period. Here is what each of the three methods deducts from October to March. The old employer, whichever method it used, deducted nothing, because even if it projected ₹6,37,500 over twelve months, the taxable ₹12,00,000 sits inside the rebate.
- A. Period only. The new employer taxes only the ₹8,50,000 it pays. Less ₹75,000 is ₹7,75,000, with tax before the rebate of ₹18,750, and the rebate takes it to zero. It deducts nothing. At filing you owe the whole ₹95,550.
- B. Annualised on its own salary. The new employer projects its ₹8,50,000 over twelve months: ₹17,00,000, less ₹75,000, is ₹16,25,000, and tax with cess is ₹1,30,000. Say it spreads that over the six months it pays you, about ₹21,667 a month. It deducts ₹1,30,000 in total, which is ₹34,450 more than the ₹95,550 your year costs. At filing you are due a refund of that, but you carried the smaller take-home for six months.
- C. Told of your earlier salary. You gave payroll your earlier figures. It knows the year is ₹14,12,500 taxable, so the tax is ₹95,550, and the old employer deducted nothing. It spreads ₹95,550 over six months: ₹15,925 a month. At filing there is nothing left to pay.
Figure 13.2 puts the three side by side.
Neither A nor B is wrong in itself. Both are what you get when payroll sees half a year. Method A leaves you a bill at filing, which you must have the cash for; method B gives you a refund you waited for. C is the only one in which monthly deductions track your real year. The cure is to give payroll what it needs, which is the earlier salary and tax figures. That is why the declaration in section 2 is in the week-one list.
INVENTED example: Ravi and the two payslips 1 min
Invented figures from the worked year. Ravi's monthly gross at the new employer is about ₹1,41,667.
Method Deducted/month Effect
A period only ₹0 feels fine; ₹95,550 due
at filing
B annualised ₹21,667 tight months; ₹34,450
refund later
C told of old pay ₹15,925 even; nothing due at filing
Ravi did not know which method his payroll used. He asked in the first week, in writing, and gave his old employer's figures. His first payslip showed ₹15,925, matching the third row. If it had shown ₹0, he would have known to set money aside.
Two limits on this example. It assumes no other income. It also assumes the old employer's Form 16 figures are the ones you declare. If a shortfall in tax paid through the year carries interest, the author has not checked how, so ask a chartered accountant before you decide to leave a bill for filing day. Finally, "the new employer deducts nothing" is true only for method A; it is not a rule.
Next stop: 4. How the first review works, 3 min
4. How the first review works
Goal. Know the parts of a first review so that you can help build them from week two.
Context. Your manager must record whether you meet expectations. They fill in a form, or write a note to HR, once or several times in your first months.
Constraints. No company's real form was used and no source describes a typical form. The shape below is the author's reading, built from ordinary practice. How often Indian companies run formal probation reviews and how they come out: no figure exists in the sources read, and the guide prints none.
Check. You can name the five parts of a review and say which of them you can influence before day 30.
Most review forms have five parts. First, goals, written in the first one or two weeks, with a date or a measure. Second, check-ins, usually recorded at day 30, 60 and 90, or at the end of a quarter. Third, ratings against a scale, with a word such as "meets" for the middle. Fourth, the manager's comments, drawn from what they saw: pull requests, incidents, reviews and what other people said. Fifth, an outcome: confirm, extend probation, or another route your policy names.
INVENTED example: a review form 1 min
The company, the person and every line are made up. They show the shape of such a form, not any firm's.
PROBATION REVIEW illustrative, invented
----------------------------------------------------------------
Employee N. Das | SDE-2 | joined 3 Mar | reviewer: manager
Probation per appointment letter | review due around day 90
Goals set in week 2
1 Ship the retry fix for partner callbacks to production
2 One on-call week shadowed, then one as primary
3 Write the ledger-export design and get it reviewed
Check-ins goals agreed week 2 | day 30 | day 60 | day 90
Ratings Delivery Quality Collaboration Ramp-up
Meets Meets Exceeds Meets
"Meets" goals 1 and 2 done; goal 3 in review
Comments "Shipped in week 4. Asks why before changing
things. Weekly notes: always knew where he was."
Outcome Confirm | extend probation | other
Figure 13.3 shows the cycle behind that form: what is written when, and what feeds the outcome.
The three things you control
- The goals are written early. If you help write them, you know what you are rated against. A goal someone else can check ("shipped to production") protects you. "Ramp up on the codebase" can be rated anything.
- The comments come from what the manager saw, not from what you did. Your work reaches them through pull requests, reviews and incidents, and through whatever you tell them. Give them a record: a weekly note, a self-review, an evidence file.
- The outcome ties back to the letter. Read the probation terms before the review, not after. If they are unclear, you wrote the email in section 1.
INVENTED example: Ritu writes the goals 1 min
Invented person. Ritu Verma joins as SDE-2 on 3 November. In her first one-to-one she proposes three goals: ship a fix to production by day 30; take one on-call week as primary by day 60; write one design and get it reviewed by day 90. After the call she sends a three-line note. At day 90 the form says "meets" on goals 1 and 2, and "in review" on goal 3.
The goals were checkable because she wrote them. If her manager had written them later, the review would have run on impressions.
Next stop: 5. The 30/60/90 that managers recognise, 5 min
5. The 30/60/90 that managers recognise
Goal. Walk into your first one-to-one with a plan you can edit, and leave with the manager's version.
Context. You are three months from a review. You know little of the codebase and less of the team.
Constraints. No survey of what managers in India expect at day 30, 60 and 90 was found. What follows is the common shape in engineering teams, as the author sees it. Your manager's list wins.
Check. At the end of the first one-to-one you have three goals, each a thing a third person can check, and a date for each.
Figure 13.4 shows the shape. The three columns are what a manager commonly looks for, and what you show.
Table: Day, What a manager looks for, What you show (3 rows)
| Day | What a manager looks for | What you show |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | You know the team, the path from a code change to production, and your three goals in writing | The goals note; your first small ship, begun or done; the list of questions you asked |
| 60 | One piece of work has moved; an on-call week shadowed or taken as primary; a first design or proposal started | Shipped items with their reviews; the on-call record; the design draft |
| 90 | One goal done or nearly; a reviewed design; you can assess yourself | Your self-review; the evidence file; the weekly notes |
The table is the author's reading, not a finding. Treat it as a draft to put in front of your manager and change.
Move 1: agree what good looks like, in writing, by the end of week two
Ask in your first one-to-one what a good first month and a good first quarter look like. Propose three goals, each a thing another person could check, with a rough date. Then send a short note summarising what you agreed, so the form has something to copy from. A goal is checkable when a third person can say yes or no without asking you. "Shipped the retry fix to production" is a yes or no. "Improve reliability" is not.
Recited, the answer sounds like: "In my first 90 days I will learn the codebase, understand the business and start contributing." The move sounds like: "Here are three things I propose: a fix in production by day 30, one on-call week as primary by day 60, one design reviewed by day 90. Is that what good looks like to you, or would you weight it differently?" The second hands your manager a draft and a question.
Move 2: ship one small thing in the first month
Pick something small that the team already wants: a flaky test, a slow page, a missing alert. Take it all the way: code, review, deploy, watch it in production. The value is less the fix than what you learn about the path to production, and that people see you finish something early. Choose a change a stranger can verify, and write the one-line description of it now. "Removed the retry storm on partner callbacks" is better than "worked on retries".
Move 3: learn before you change
The trap is arriving with fixes from your last company in week one. Learn the on-call rota, how reviews work and the last few incidents before proposing changes. Keep a private "what I noticed" list. Around day 30 to 45, bring two items to your manager as questions first ("why do we deploy only on Tuesdays?"); some of them will have reasons you could not see. Your old company is evidence, not an argument: say what you saw it cost, with a number if you have one, and offer a small trial on your own work.
Move 4: meet people with the same three questions
Ask your manager for five to eight people to meet in the first month, and ask each the same three things: what do you own, what is hard right now, and what should I be careful not to break? The third tends to surface the fragile parts nobody wrote down. Write down the answers; after eight conversations, the repeats are the map.
Move 5: a weekly written update
Once a week, three lines to your manager: done, next, blocked. It takes five minutes, and the person writing your review has a dated record instead of a memory of last week. Ask in your first one-to-one how they like to be updated, and follow that. If they prefer to talk, send the three lines afterwards anyway; it is your record.
INVENTED example: a weekly update 1 min
To: [manager] Week of 17 Nov (invented)
Done Fixed the flaky ledger test; merged after two review
rounds. Shadowed the Tuesday deploy.
Next Start the retry fix on partner callbacks; ask Vikram
about the alert thresholds.
Blocked Staging access request is with IT since Tuesday.
Move 6: start an evidence file on day one
A private, dated list: what you shipped, decisions and their cost, numbers that moved, incidents, feedback received. It feeds your day-90 self-review, your first promotion case and your next story bank. Write each entry the day it happens, because a month later you will not recall it. Keep it outside the company's systems if your employer's policy allows, and never copy confidential material into it; record what you did and what changed, not code or customer data.
INVENTED example: evidence file entries 1 min
EVIDENCE FILE invented entries
-----------------------------------------------------------
12 Nov Shipped fix: flaky ledger test. Build failures on
that test: 9 in the month before, 0 in the two weeks
since. (evidence: the merged change, the CI page)
19 Nov On-call shadow. Learned the page-to-fix path; wrote
the missing step into the runbook.
26 Nov Manager feedback in one-to-one: "clear weekly notes".
Move 7: write your self-review before the review meeting
Around day 80, write one paragraph per goal: done or not, the evidence, what is next. Send it before the meeting. A manager filling in a form is glad of a draft, and it puts your evidence into their words. If a goal is not done, say so and say why; a plain account of a goal in review is stronger than a vague claim of progress.
INVENTED example: a self-review paragraph 1 min
Goal 3 (design): the ledger-export design went to review on day 71; two reviewers asked for changes to the retry section. Changes made and re-reviewed on day 84. Status: in review, one open comment. Next: close it and start the build.
A probation extension, in writing
Not every first review ends in confirmation, and a plan should include the other path. The invented case: Sunita's letter sets a probation of a stated length with a confirmation review. A month before it ends, her manager says the review will be extended by a stated period. Sunita asks for the extension in writing, with the reason and the goals that remain, and puts the new date in her calendar. The guide does not state a rule that an extension must be in writing; it is good practice, because it turns "we will see" into goals with a date.
Next stop: 6. Drill: the first one-to-one, out loud, 1 min
6. Drill: the first one-to-one, out loud
Do this the week before you join and again before your day-30 check-in. Fifteen minutes, with a friend playing the manager and a phone timer and recorder. The four steps and their time boxes:
- Listen (3 minutes). Ask how they like to work and what the team is under pressure about. You speak well under half the time.
- Agree the first month (5 minutes). Say what you propose; ask what good looks like to them; agree three goals a third person can check.
- Ask for context (4 minutes). Whom to meet, what to read, what not to break, how they like updates.
- Close (3 minutes). Read back what you agreed and say you will send it in writing today.
Then run one minute for your introduction to the team: what you will own, not your CV, and one question you want answered. Listen to the recording once and score it with the rubric below.
Self-check rubric
Score from the recording. Yes or no; the box is for you to mark on paper.
Table: Check, What yes looks like, Done (7 rows)
| Check | What yes looks like | Done |
|---|---|---|
| I said what I will own, not my CV | One line on where I came from; the rest about what I am here to do | |
| I asked the team one real question | One I want answered, such as what I should be careful not to break | |
| My 90-day goal is checkable | Shipped, reviewed, run as primary; not "understand" or "ramp up" | |
| I named a first small ship | A thing with a stranger-checkable description and a date | |
| I asked how my manager likes updates | I know the channel and the day of the week | |
| I read back what we agreed | And I said I would send it in writing | |
| I spoke well under half the time in Listen | The recording shows my manager talking most of the three minutes |
Next stop: 7. Ask your AI, 2 min
7. Ask your AI
Code, 9 lines
My letter says: [paste the probation, confirmation and notice clauses]. My manager's first one-to-one notes: [paste]. Turn this into a table: day 30, day 60, day 90, with one checkable goal each and the evidence that would show it. Then list the questions I must ask HR in writing this week. Do not state a legal rule about probation; say which points need HR or a lawyer.
A good answer contains: goals a third person can check; the paste's own clause numbers; HR questions in writing (probation length, confirmation, notice during probation, PF account); no legal rule stated as settled.
Code, 11 lines
I changed jobs in the middle of the tax year. Old employer paid [amount] to [month]; new employer pays [amount] per month. Using the new-regime slabs I paste below and a standard deduction of ₹75,000, compute (a) the total tax if the two salaries are one year's income, (b) what each employer would deduct if payroll uses only its own period, and (c) what changes if payroll annualises its salary. Show the arithmetic step by step. Say where you would need the rules I have not pasted.
A good answer contains: separates the single-year view from the payroll method; shows slab steps and the rebate; flags cess; says "ask payroll which method" rather than picking one; does not invent a form number.
Code, 8 lines
I start as [role] on [date]. My three goals: [paste]. Write a 60-second opening for my team introduction (what I will own, not my CV) and a 15-minute agenda for my first one-to-one with my manager: what good looks like in month one, my first small ship, and how they like to be updated. Then ask me five questions I should be ready to answer.
A good answer contains: an opening that names what you will own; an agenda with time boxes; a weekly-update question; no invented manager preferences presented as facts.
Your letter, not this guide, sets your probation: ask HR in writing for its length, how confirmation happens and what notice applies. In week one give payroll your existing UAN and your earlier salary, and check your PF history a month later. A mid-year join changes when tax is deducted, not what the year costs, so tell payroll about your old pay. Help write three goals that a third person can check, ship one small thing, send three lines a week, and keep an evidence file. Next: the templates and cheat sheets that sit behind this guide.
Sources
10 sources
- Press Information Bureau, "Government Makes the Four Labour Codes effective", 21 Nov 2025, PRID 2192463, pib.gov.in; appointment letters, read for lesson 0 and 31 Oct 2026.
- Press Information Bureau, Income-tax Act 2025 in force, PRID 2248005, pib.gov.in, read for lesson 0 and 31 Oct 2026.
- Ministry of Labour and Employment, gratuity FAQ, 30 Dec 2025, labour.gov.in (five years; "currently ₹20 lakhs"), read for lesson 0 and 31 Oct 2026.
- Income Tax Department section pages for the Income-tax Act 2025, sections 202, 19 and 156 (slabs, standard deduction, rebate), incometaxindia.gov.in, opened for lesson 0. Section 392 (deduction at source) seen only as a search extract.
- Finance Bill 2026 as introduced, indiabudget.gov.in (cess and surcharge), opened for lesson 0.
- Probation: Singhania & Co, "Probation in employment contract"; Bar & Bench, "Confirmed or not: tips for effective probationary period management"; righttoinformation.wiki, "Probation period rights, confirmation, termination India"; mewurk.com and asanify.com probation guides. Search extracts and secondary summaries; the Central Model Standing Orders text was not opened. Read 31 Oct 2026.
- Provident fund transfer: Free Press Journal, "EPFO simplifies job switch process"; Outlook Money, "Changing jobs: EPFO now allows automatic PF transfers"; Angel One news on EPF auto transfer; indianpaycalculator.in on final-withdrawal auto-settle plan (May 2026). Secondary reports; no official notice found. Read 31 Oct 2026.
- Earlier-salary declaration: taggd.in and paybima.com guides; the department's FAQ on the earlier-salary form returned HTTP 403 and was not read. Secondary; read 31 Oct 2026.
- Arithmetic in section 3 computed in Python on 31 Oct 2026 from the slabs above; all pay figures are invented.
- Not verified, so not stated as fact: a general probation length; automatic confirmation; notice during probation; automatic provident fund transfer for every member; the number of the earlier-salary form and whether it is mandatory; whether previous service counts for gratuity; how often probation reviews are run or confirmed.