A joining report letter the new employee fills in on day one, with HR's acknowledgement on the same page. Plus the joining report format for a transfer and for a return from leave, the joining day checklist and data form, and every clock the date of joining starts: PF, first salary, probation, leave and the gratuity nomination.
Ten formats. The joining report letter comes first; section 3 is the table of clocks.
A one-page joining report letter for day one: 'With reference to the appointment letter [REF. NO.] dated [DD-MMM-YYYY], I report that I have joined [COMPANY NAME] today, [DD-MMM-YYYY], as [DESIGNATION]'. Then a joining report after transfer, and a rejoining report after maternity or sick leave. Each has HR's acknowledgement on the same page.
HR confirms the date, the code and the probation end, and runs the joining day checklist. The appointment letter itself comes from the sixteen-field appointment letter.
A documents received slip, the joining data form with the fields the law asks for, and the previous employment and tax declaration. PF details go with the PF joining declaration.
What the joiner was told on day one, signed, and a tracker with every clock per joiner. The same date goes into the employee register, Form I under the Central rules and the State's form for most private employers.
How to write a joining report and which to use when, the clocks the date starts and what missing each costs, what the joiner declares, the data you hold, who each rule reaches, the nine mistakes in full, six questions the pack could not settle, and forty citations.
Attendo (formerly Petpooja Payroll) runs salary, attendance and PF for every branch in one account, so a joiner is entered once and reaches all three.
Because the joining report is three lines, and the date on it starts every statutory clock you run for that person.
PF membership runs from the date of joining, at twenty or more employees. The first salary is due by the 7th of the next month. And a mid-year joiner is still owed leave: a worker who has worked one-fourth of the days left in the calendar year is entitled to a day for every 20 worked, in an establishment of ten or more workers.
Then probation. Where standing orders bind, at 300 or more workers, the model orders make it six months, extendable by three on an assessment of performance. Below that line, the appointment letter's own term runs, and the acknowledgement in this pack writes the end date down so nobody has to remember it.
Last, what the joiner hands over. Aadhaar on the appointment letter only after consent, as the Central rules' format says, though a PF member must still give it to you or to EPFO. Salary from an earlier employer this tax year, on Form No. 122, so TDS is right from the first payslip. And a declaration of past PF membership, because a false one lets you recover their share of the contributions from later wages.
The same pack serves a plant taking on forty operators, a hospital inducting nurses and a corporate office onboarding freshers: the reports change, the clocks do not.
Whichever joining report format you use, the date on it sets these. The pack's tracker keeps them per joiner.
| Clock | Starts | Due | Law | Reaches | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appointment letter | On appointment | On or before day one | OSH Code s.6(1)(f) | Ten or more workers | 04 |
| PF membership | Date of joining | Upload within 15 days of month-end | EPF Scheme paras 9(2), 24(2) | Twenty or more employees | 05, 08 |
| First salary | Date of joining | By the 7th of the next month | Code on Wages s.17(1)(iv) | Every employee | 05 |
| Gratuity nomination | One year of service | Within 90 days of it (Central rules) | SS Code s.55(1); rule 32 | Ten or more employees | 10 |
| Leave | Date of joining | After one-fourth of the year left | OSH Code s.32(1)(v) | Workers, ten or more | 10 |
Membership itself runs from the date of joining. Twenty or more employees, PF wages up to ₹25,000 at joining, or an existing member.
Source: EPF Scheme, 2026, paras 9(2) and 24(2)A worker who starts after 1 January is entitled to a day for every 20 worked once they have worked one-fourth of the remaining days. Ten or more workers.
Source: OSH Code, 2020, s.32(1)(v)Form-III, in duplicate, ordinarily within ninety days of completing a year; you verify and return a copy within thirty. Ten or more employees. These are the Central rules: they bind the Central sphere and any employer with branches in more than one State; a single-State employer follows its State's.
Source: Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026, rule 32(1)(ii) and (2)The appointment letter is your duty to every employee, in an establishment of ten or more workers. The joining report is the employee's record. Keep both.
The clocks run from the day the person reported, which the joining report records. If the offer said the 1st and they came on the 3rd, the 3rd is the date of joining, on our reading. Never record a later date than the first day worked: the PF for the days between is still owed.
Membership runs from the date of joining at twenty or more employees. ESI cover, at ten or more, has no probation either.
A wrong date of birth or name on the portal can need a PF joint declaration to fix later. Check the documents on day one.
The Central format asks for the Aadhaar number 'after obtaining consent'. PF is different: a member must give it to you or to EPFO. Ask, record the answer, keep it only as long as a law needs.
Under the model standing orders, at 300 or more workers, it is six months and at most three more. Write the end date in the acknowledgement, and decide before it, in writing.
Three lines
Ten formats, each on its rule
Take the report, run the checklist, enter the date once. Twelve months on, the same date tells you when the Form-III gratuity nomination falls due.
Attendo (formerly Petpooja Payroll) is payroll and attendance software used by 40,000+ businesses across manufacturing, corporate offices, retail, hospitals and education. General guidance, not legal advice. This pack is one of our free joining and payroll formats, each built from the law rather than from other templates.
Ten formats, from the joining report to the clocks tracker, with the law behind each date and forty citations, in Word. Free.
