Lesson 2 of 2 · 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.
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1 / 6
Offer-letter clauses: normal, or worth a question before you sign?
A probation period of three to six months
PF enrolment happens through a form called Form 11, usually inside your joining paperwork. If this is your first job, your employer generates a UAN — Universal Account Number — for you; if you already have one from an internship or earlier job, give the same one. One person, one UAN, for life.
Activate it on the EPFO member portal in month one, and check the passbook after your first salary. A deduction on the slip and a credit in the passbook are two separate events, and only one of them is visible to you by default.
Spot the scam · WhatsApp
The onboarding message that is not from HR
Welcome to the team! This is Priya from HR, completing your PF activation. Please send the OTP just received on your phone and your UAN password so payroll can be processed today itself. This is urgent — salary processing closes at 5 pm.
Offer to confirmation: the milestones
Day 0
Offer accepted
Check the annexure: basic share, fixed versus variable split, notice period, probation length, any bond or clawback.
Week 1
Joining paperwork
Form 11 for PF, KYC documents, and a salary account — a savings account whose minimum-balance rule is waived while salary keeps arriving.
Month 1
First payslip lands
Activate your UAN and check the EPF passbook against the payslip. The payslip course walks through every line.
Month 3–6
Probation typically ends
Ask for the confirmation in writing. Notice periods often lengthen at confirmation.
Year 5
Gratuity vests
Five completed years of service is the threshold under the Payment of Gratuity Act — one reason the date on your joining letter matters.
Numbers behind the fine print
- Professional tax ceiling
- ₹2,500 a year
- Your PF contribution
- 12% of basic
- Gratuity service threshold
- 5 years
The constitutional cap. States set their own slabs under it; a few charge nothing — which is why in-hand differs city to city.
Matched by your employer, whose share usually sits inside your CTC.
Waived only where service ends due to death or disablement.
Check yourself
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Kabir asks
Your offer sets a 90-day notice period once you are confirmed. What does that clause actually bind you to?
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