Next: Life stages
Your first payslip, line by line
Basic, HRA, PF, professional tax, TDS: what each line on the slip does, which of them you can still influence, and which were settled before you signed.
14 min
beginner
Your offer letter, decoded
CTC is not your salary. What the offer letter actually says about basic, PF, probation, notice and bonds — and which page to read before you sign anything.
2 lessons · about 16 minutes · written for reading age 13 · last checked 2026-08-11
What a ₹6 lakh CTC actually pays you
CTC, gross and in-hand are three different numbers, and the gap is wider than most people expect. The annexure, not the headline, tells you which is which.
8 min
Before you sign, and your first weeks
Probation, notice periods, bonds and clawbacks — plus PF enrolment, the UAN you keep for life, and the friendly onboarding message that is not really from HR.
8 min
Check yourself
3 questions at the end. Every wrong answer explains itself.
Tools for this
What changed recently
Dated commentary on this topic — a Budget change, a new rule, a scam pattern.
2026-07-27 · 7 min read
A joining bonus is a loan in disguise
It arrives as cash and behaves like debt: leave inside the clawback window and you repay it. Variable pay is the mirror image — a target, not a promise.
2026-07-17 · 8 min read
Notice period and the final payslip
The last payslip is not a normal one. Leave encashment, notice recovery and gratuity all land on it at once, which is why it takes weeks to arrive.
2025-08-19 · 6 min read
Changing jobs? What withdrawing your PF costs
Withdrawing resets the compounding and breaks the service record that decides your pension — and before five years it is usually taxed. Transferring does not.
Sources
- EPF Scheme 1952 — employer coverage, membership and UAN — Employees' Provident Fund Organisation · checked 2026-08-11
- Income Tax Department — official portal — Income Tax Department · checked 2026-08-11
- Article 276 of the Constitution — ceiling on taxes on professions — India Code, Legislative Department · checked 2026-08-11
- Payment of Gratuity Act 1972 — Ministry of Labour and Employment · checked 2026-08-11
- National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal — Ministry of Home Affairs · checked 2026-08-11