Payroll & statutory · Updated October 2026
A payroll cycle is the repeating schedule on which a company gathers pay inputs, calculates salaries, gets them approved and pays them out, most often once a month. The schedule is not entirely yours to choose: the Code on Wages caps the wage period at one month and sets the latest date each kind of cycle can be paid.
The dates below are illustrative, not a rule. Pick yours so that attendance data is reliable and payment lands comfortably inside the legal deadline.
| Stage | Typical timing (April pay) |
|---|---|
| Input cut-off for attendance, leave, reimbursements | 25 April (see payroll cut-off date) |
| Processing and variance checks | 26 to 28 April |
| Approval and bank file release | 29 or 30 April |
| Salary credited | Last working day of April, or the first days of May |
| TDS deposit | 7 May |
| PF and ESI deposit | 15 May |
Whichever pay date you choose, the cut-off and the day count behind LOP deductions need to be consistent, which is what the working days basis settles. If your cut-off falls before month-end, the days after it are usually trued up in the next cycle.
Under Section 17(1), wages must be paid at the end of the shift for daily workers, on the last working day of the week (before the weekly holiday) for weekly workers, before the end of the second day after the fortnight for fortnightly workers, and before the expiry of the seventh day of the following month for monthly workers. So April salary has to be paid by 7 May at the latest. Section 17(3) lets the appropriate government set a different limit, and state rules are still arriving, so check your state if you operate a non-standard date.
Exits sit outside the cycle. Section 17(2) requires wages to be paid within two working days of resignation, dismissal or retrenchment, and the Ministry of Labour’s 2026 compliance handbook for employers repeats this. That payment is usually an off-cycle run.
Not comfortably. The Code’s default for monthly wages is before the expiry of the 7th day, and the 10th is outside it unless your state has notified a different limit under Section 17(3). Aim for a few days before the 7th, because bank holidays and returned credits eat into the margin.
No. Statutory deposits run on the calendar month whatever your wage period is, so a fortnightly payer still files one monthly PF return. The compliance calendar lists the dates.
Their salary up to the last working day is paid within two working days, outside the normal pay run, and the rest of the full and final settlement follows the timelines for each component.
Count the paid days for any month with the working days calculator, or compare how payroll software automates the schedule.