Work

The written appointment letter the Code on Wages requires an employer to give every worker — permanent, fixed-term, contract or gig. It states the role and how the engagement is classified, the wages and how they are made up, the working hours, the leave, and the notice period either side must give. Shorter and more widely used than a full employment agreement, which is a negotiated contract for a senior hire.

A brand-and-creator agreement for sponsored content: the deliverables and the dates, the fee or the barter, approvals, and exclusivity. Usage rights are the commercial heart of it — paying for a post does not buy the content outright, and running it as a paid advertisement from the creator's own handle (whitelisting, Spark Ads) is a separate grant from the right to post it organically. ASCI disclosure is triggered by a material connection, gifted product included, whether or not money changes hands.

The full bilateral employment contract between an Employer and Employee: compensation and its structure, duties, working hours, leave, statutory benefits, confidentiality, IP, restraints where lawful, and termination. The right instrument when terms are negotiated and the relationship needs a complete contract — from a household hiring domestic staff to a senior executive hire. For the short statutory letter the Code on Wages requires for every worker, use the Appointment Letter; for a pre-joining offer, the Offer Letter. Governed by the Indian Contract Act, 1872, applicable Shops & Establishments Acts, and the Labour Codes.

The statement an employer issues on separation, itemising what is payable — final salary, notice pay, leave encashment, gratuity, reimbursements — and what is deducted, with the net amount and how it is paid. Signed by both: the employee acknowledges receipt. The optional release closes the claims this settlement covers and expressly leaves statutory entitlements untouched. Issued by the employer. Where the employer has NOT paid and the former employee is demanding salary, dues, or withheld documents, that is the employee's own notice — the Unpaid Salary and Dues Notice.

A promise to keep information confidential — mutual, where both sides disclose, or one-way where only one does. It sets out what counts as confidential, how long the duty survives the agreement, and what must be returned or destroyed at the end. Note that the exclusions are wide: marking something confidential does not make it so, and nothing here reaches what is already public, what the recipient worked out independently, or what a court compels them to disclose.

An offer of employment made to a candidate, setting out the role, the compensation, anything the offer depends on, and how long it stands. Conditional and provisional: the appointment letter that follows acceptance is what records the agreed terms, and is the document the Code on Wages requires.

The letter an employer issues when someone leaves: it certifies the dates and designation of the employment, confirms the employee stands relieved and that dues are settled, and — where the employer chooses — records what they were responsible for and how they conducted themselves. Issued as a combined relieving cum experience certificate, which is how these are most often given in India. Signed by the employer alone.

An agreement for a freelancer, consultant or agency to do work for a client: the scope, the fee and how it is billed, the timeline, and who owns what is produced. The assignment clause is the load-bearing one — a contractor is not an employee, so they remain the first owner of what they create, and copyright reaches the client only through a written assignment naming the rights, the term and the territory (s. 19, Copyright Act 1957).

The notice an employer serves to put an allegation to an employee and ask for their explanation before any decision is taken. It states what is alleged and when, names the term or policy said to have been breached, and calls for an explanation within a period the employer allows. It asks — it does not announce a finding.

An employee's written demand for unpaid salary and full-and-final dues, and for the release of employment documents. It records the employment, itemises what is owed — salary, notice pay, leave encashment, bonus, reimbursements — and names any papers the employer is holding back, such as a relieving letter, experience certificate or Form 16. Served by the employee. The employer's own statement of what it is paying out on exit — with the employee acknowledging receipt — is the Full & Final Settlement.