Labour Law Consultant in Delhi: CA Murli Chandak’s Guide to the Labour Codes, the 2026 Shops Act Amendment, the Delhi Welfare Fund, PF, ESIC and Payroll Compliance

In short: As a labour law consultant in Delhi, CA Murli Chandak, a Fellow Chartered Accountant and IBBI-Registered Valuer, runs labour-law compliance for Delhi and NCR employers as a payroll-linked, audit-ready process. The work covers applicability mapping under the Labour Codes; the Delhi layer (the Delhi Shops and Establishments Act, 1954 as amended by Act 3 of 2026, the Delhi Labour Welfare Fund, the Delhi minimum wage notifications and the draft Delhi rules under the Codes); PF and ESIC filings; wage-structure review; contractor controls for facility, security and housekeeping vendors; the POSH framework; and inspection readiness. Because the work starts from the books and the payroll, the compliance record also holds up in the statutory audit, tax audit, fundraising due diligence and IPO preparation. The first 30-minute consultation is free.

Contents

1. Why Labour Compliance in Delhi Is a Finance Question
2. Labour Codes and Delhi Rules: Where Things Stand
3. The Delhi Shops and Establishments Act and the 2026 Amendment
4. Registration in Delhi: Working Out Which Route Applies
5. The Delhi Layer: Welfare Fund, Levies and Boards
6. Wages, Delhi Minimum Wage Notifications and Salary Structure
7. PF and ESIC for Establishments Across Delhi
8. Contract Labour and Facility Vendors in Delhi
9. Working Hours, Women’s Night Shifts and Employee Records
10. Delhi-NCR Groups: Staff Across Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh
11. Industrial Relations, Gratuity, Bonus and Exits
12. POSH Compliance
13. Labour Compliance in Funding, IPO and Acquisition Due Diligence
14. Inspections and Notices
15. How a Labour Law Consultant in Delhi Works With You
16. Fees and Engagement Models
17. Quick Reference Checklist for Delhi Employers
18. Why Work With CA Murli Chandak as Your Labour Law Consultant in Delhi
19. Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why Labour Compliance in Delhi Is a Finance Question

Delhi employers usually look for a labour law consultant when a question has already been raised: a query from the provident fund office on the wage base, a notice from the Labour Department, a contractor who stopped paying housekeeping or security staff at a client site, or a diligence request from an investor. The cause is seldom a lack of intent. Labour obligations are spread across payroll, HR, accounts and facilities management, and in a growing business no single function owns the whole picture.

CA Murli Chandak therefore treats labour compliance as a reconciliation exercise that begins with the numbers. Wages, contributions, provisions and contractor invoices all end up in the books. When the statutory record and the accounting record are tied together every month, filings are accurate, audits are routine and management can see its exposure at any time.

Delhi has its own shape. The city is home to retail markets and malls, restaurants and hotels, hospitals, professional offices, trading houses, call centres and technology teams, and a large facilities-services workforce employed through contractors. Many Delhi businesses also run units, warehouses or branches in Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad or Ghaziabad, which are governed by the laws of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. On top of the central Labour Codes, Delhi has its own Shops and Establishments Act, which was amended by Act 3 of 2026, a Labour Welfare Fund and a set of draft rules under the Codes. These are covered in Sections 2 to 5 and Section 10.

2. Labour Codes and Delhi Rules: Where Things Stand

The answer to “which rule applies to my Delhi establishment” depends on the date and on whether a Delhi rule has been finalised. The position at the time of writing is summarised below.

Date	Development	Source
21 November 2025	The four Labour Codes (Wages, Industrial Relations, Social Security, and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions) took effect, rationalising 29 central labour laws	PIB release
3 December 2025	The draft Industrial Relations (Delhi) Rules, 2025 were issued for objections and suggestions, with a 30-day window	Taxmann report
4 December 2025	The Delhi Labour Department invited public comments on rules pre-published under the OSH Code and the IR Code; a draft Delhi Code on Social Security Rules, 2025 is also listed in the department’s notices	Delhi Labour Department notices
9 January, 23 February and 11 March 2026	The Delhi Shops and Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2026 (Act 3 of 2026) was passed by the Delhi Legislative Assembly on 9 January, received Presidential assent on 23 February and was published in the Delhi Gazette (Extraordinary) on 11 March	Gazette text
8 May 2026	The Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2026 were notified	PRS Legislative Research
Ongoing	Commencement of Act 3 of 2026 under its Section 1(2), and finalisation of Delhi’s rules under each Code. The published material reviewed for this guide did not show a commencement notification or final Delhi rules under every Code, so the Labour Department’s own notifications are the authority for any filing decision	Delhi Labour Department

The practical consequence is that a compliance framework built before November 2025 needs a documented review now, and that review should be repeated whenever a Delhi rule is finalised or the Shops Act amendment is brought into force. The Ministry of Labour and Employment’s Compliance Handbook for Employers is a useful primary reference alongside the Codes. It states that the Codes prevail where there is any discrepancy, and the central section references used in this guide are taken from it.

3. The Delhi Shops and Establishments Act and the 2026 Amendment

The Delhi Shops and Establishments Act, 1954 is the main state statute for shops, commercial establishments, restaurants and similar premises in the city. It deals with working hours, rest intervals, weekly closing, holidays, leave and the payment of wages. The Delhi Shops and Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2026 (Act 3 of 2026, Delhi Gazette Extraordinary, 11 March 2026) changes several of these rules. The table below sets out the amendments as they appear in the gazette text.

Provision	Amendment
Applicability (Section 1, new sub-section 5)	The Act is to apply to shops and establishments employing twenty or more employees
Daily hours (Section 8)	Nine hours becomes ten hours, inclusive of the rest interval and lunch break
Weekly and aggregate hours (Section 8, first proviso)	The weekly limit rises from 54 to 60 hours; the overtime cap changes from 150 hours a year to 144 hours a quarter
Continuous work (Section 10)	Five hours becomes six hours
Spread-over (Section 11)	A single limit of twelve hours replaces the earlier 10.5 hours for commercial establishments and 12 hours for shops
Young persons and age reference (Sections 2(2) and 14)	The age reference in Section 2(2) moves from twelve to fourteen; minors may not be required or permitted to work at night in any establishment
Women and night work (Section 14, replaced)	Women may work in all establishments and, with written consent, between 9 pm and 7 am in summer and 8 pm and 8 am in winter, subject to the conditions in Section 9 below

Commencement. Section 1(2) of the Amendment Act provides that it comes into force on a date that the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi appoints by notification in the Official Gazette. The gazette text itself gives no date, and the published commentary reviewed for this guide, including a March 2026 report, also does not state one. Until a commencement notification is issued and confirmed on the Labour Department’s website, an employer should not assume that the new limits are operative, and should not assume that they are not. The sensible course is to prepare for the change, document the reading adopted and confirm the position before any roster, contract or registration is changed.

The twenty-employee threshold. The new Section 1(5) is the amendment with the largest registration consequence. A Delhi establishment with fewer than twenty employees would, once the amendment operates, fall outside the Act, and the question of which other registration applies to it (for example under the OSH Code, whose registration duty attaches to establishments employing 10 or more employees) would need to be answered location by location. CA Murli Chandak documents that analysis as part of the applicability review described in Section 4.

4. Registration in Delhi: Working Out Which Route Applies

Registration is a decision that rests on facts: what the premises are used for, how many people work there, how they are engaged and which statute covers each category. No single checklist applies to every employer. The table below shows the questions that decide the route for common Delhi establishments.

Type of establishment	Registrations usually in play	What decides it
Retail shop, showroom or restaurant	Delhi Shops and Establishments Act, 1954; OSH Code registration if the employee count calls for it	Employee count today and after commencement of Act 3 of 2026; whether the premises are one establishment or several
Professional or corporate office	Delhi Shops and Establishments Act, 1954; PF and, where extended, ESIC	Headcount by location, including interns and consultants engaged on employment-like terms
Factory or workshop in Delhi	Factory-specific licensing and the OSH Code; PF and ESIC	Whether the unit is a factory, the number of persons employed and the power used
Business that engages contractors	Contractor licence and principal-employer registration under the OSH Code where the thresholds are met	Contract workers on any day of the preceding 12 months, by site
Delhi head office with units in NCR towns	Delhi registration for the Delhi premises; Haryana or Uttar Pradesh registration for units there	A separate registration and filing set for each state

The Delhi Labour Department provides online services for registration and related processes, and the details entered should agree with the establishment’s other records (the GST registration, the PF and ESIC codes, the PAN and the lease or ownership papers). The transition from the earlier statutes to the Codes has proceeded in stages, so an earlier registration should not be treated as redundant until the position under the relevant Code and Delhi rule has been confirmed.

5. The Delhi Layer: Welfare Fund, Levies and Boards

Central compliance is only part of the work in the capital. Delhi has its own welfare fund, boards and notifications, and several of them attach to payroll or to specific categories of workers.

Item	What to know	Source
Delhi Labour Welfare Fund	The Fund was constituted under the Bombay Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1953 as extended to Delhi. It covers establishments employing five or more persons. The contribution per employee is Rs 0.75 from the employee and Rs 2.25 from the employer, for each half-year, worked out on the register as on 30 June and 31 December. The employer share is due before 15 July and 15 January. Employees in managerial or supervisory roles drawing more than Rs 2,500 a month are outside the Fund	Delhi Labour Welfare Board
Professional tax	Delhi does not appear among the states that levy professional tax. Employees posted to a state that does levy it, or a Delhi payroll that includes staff working there, remain subject to that state’s rules and should be mapped separately	Delhi Labour Department (confirm current position)
Building and construction workers	Delhi has a Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, whose reconstitution the Labour Department notified in October 2025 (see its notices page). Builders, contractors and developers should check how the Board’s registration and cess provisions apply to each project	Delhi Labour Department notices
Shops Act notifications	The Labour Department also lists a notification dated 7 August 2025 relating to Sections 14, 15 and 16 of the Delhi Shops and Establishments Act, 1954. Section 14 is replaced in full by Act 3 of 2026, so that notification should be read together with the amendment	Delhi Labour Department notices

The Labour Welfare Fund is small in amount but easy to miss, because the contribution is tiny and the due dates fall twice a year, outside the monthly payroll rhythm. It belongs on the compliance calendar with its own owner. The amounts and dates above are as stated on the Board’s page and should be confirmed from the Board at each filing, since welfare fund rates are revised from time to time.

6. Wages, Delhi Minimum Wage Notifications and Salary Structure

The Code on Wages defines wages by reference to basic pay, dearness allowance and retaining allowance, with listed exclusions. Where the excluded items exceed 50% of total pay, the excess is treated as wages, as the Ministry’s handbook explains. That single rule can change the base on which several obligations are computed, including contributions and gratuity.

A Chartered Accountant is well placed to test this because the effect runs through the accounts:

• Salary structure. Allowance-heavy cost-to-company structures, flexible-benefit plans and variable-pay components are common in corporate offices, consulting firms and service businesses in Delhi. They should be re-tested against the 50% rule by grade.
• Statutory cost. A wider wage base can raise employer contributions and gratuity cost. The effect belongs in budgets and, for service contracts that bill manpower, in the rates quoted to clients.
• Overtime. The handbook records that overtime is payable at not less than twice the normal rate of wages (Section 14 of the Code on Wages). Retail, hospitality and security operations that run extended hours should check how overtime is computed and recorded.
• Minimum wages. The Government of NCT of Delhi notifies minimum wages by category of worker (unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and clerical or supervisory grades) and revises them periodically, with a variable dearness allowance component. Each employee and contract worker should be mapped to the correct category against the Labour Department’s current notification before wages are finalised. Rates quoted on third-party websites can be stale, and the rate of an earlier period should never be assumed to continue. For that reason this guide does not print a rate table.
• Payroll records. Payslips, registers and bank-payment evidence should show how each component was treated, so the position can be explained to an inspector or an auditor.

Misclassification is a frequent source of underpayment. A “helper” who performs semi-skilled work, or an office assistant whose duties are clerical, should be placed in the category that the work and the notification require, not the one that the appointment letter happens to use.

7. PF and ESIC for Establishments Across Delhi

7.1 Provident Fund

PF is a monthly cycle rather than a one-time registration: employer code, UAN and KYC maintenance, contribution on the correct wage base, deposit and return through the EPFO portal, and reconciliation of payroll with EPFO records. EPFO’s guidance for employers refers to coverage of specified establishments employing 20 or more persons. A Delhi group with a head office in one part of the city and branches or warehouses elsewhere in the region should confirm which EPFO office holds each establishment code before correspondence or hearings.

7.2 Employees’ State Insurance

According to the ESIC coverage page, non-seasonal factories employing 10 or more persons are covered, and State Governments have extended coverage under Section 1(5) to certain other establishment types (shops, hotels, restaurants, cinemas, road-motor transport undertakings, newspaper establishments and private medical and educational institutions) in specified States and areas. The wage ceiling is Rs 21,000 a month, and Rs 25,000 for persons with disability. Whether a given Delhi shop, restaurant, clinic or school falls within an extended category is confirmed against the current ESIC notifications for the area before registration. The recurring work consists of employer registration, insurance numbers for each eligible employee, accurate wage, entry and exit updates, timely payment and support for claims and inspections.

7.3 Why timing matters beyond the penalty

Late deposit of PF and ESIC contributions carries interest and damages under the relevant law, and can also affect the income-tax deduction available for those contributions. The deposit date is therefore tracked in the monthly closing checklist, so that payroll, accounts and the tax auditor work from the same dates. The statutory obligation to pay contributions and file returns stays with the employer; the consultant’s role is to make the process reliable and evidenced.

8. Contract Labour and Facility Vendors in Delhi

Delhi offices, hospitals, malls, hotels, institutions and construction sites depend on contractors for housekeeping, security, facility management, cafeteria services, transport and project staffing. Under the OSH Code, as summarised in the Ministry’s handbook:

• the contract labour provisions apply where 50 or more contract labourers were employed on any day of the preceding 12 months (Section 45);
• a contractor employing 50 or more contract workers must obtain a licence, valid for five years (Sections 47 and 48);
• the principal employer is responsible for providing the prescribed welfare facilities (Section 53);
• if the contractor fails to pay wages, the principal employer is liable to make the payment to the contract labour (Section 55);
• the inter-state migrant worker provisions apply where 10 or more such workers were employed on any day of the preceding 12 months (Section 59).

Engaging a contractor therefore does not move the risk away. The last point matters in the capital, where many contract and construction workers come from other states. Each site should be checked against these thresholds.

Delhi adds a second dimension: businesses that serve government departments, public-sector undertakings and large corporates are often asked to produce proof of statutory payments for the manpower they deploy before their own invoices are cleared. Strong vendor controls therefore protect the employer on both sides. A monthly release-of-payment control works better than an annual audit:

• check the contractor’s licence or registration status and validity before the work begins and at each renewal;
• obtain the wage register and bank-payment evidence for the month before paying the contractor’s bill;
• match PF and ESIC challans and returns to the list of workers actually deployed at the site;
• reconcile the headcount billed with the access-control or biometric attendance record;
• keep a vendor file with agreement, licence, insurance and compliance proofs, so that it is ready when an inspector, auditor, client or acquirer asks for it.

This is where labour compliance meets accounts payable. A contractor invoice released without compliance proof turns a vendor’s default into the employer’s liability.

9. Working Hours, Women’s Night Shifts and Employee Records

Working conditions are often the first matters an inspector examines, and in Delhi the 2026 amendment has made them a live question. The existing hour limits continue to apply until the amendment is brought into force, so rosters should record which limits were followed and when.

Women’s night work. Under the replaced Section 14, women may be employed at night (9 pm to 7 am in summer and 8 pm to 8 am in winter) only with their written consent and subject to conditions. These include adequate CCTV surveillance, security and safe transport for women employees, extending to contractor employees; no employment for six weeks after childbirth or miscarriage; at least two women employees on the night shift; compliance with the POSH Act, 2013; and any further conditions that the Delhi Government notifies. For call centres, hospitality, retail and healthcare employers, the transport and consent records are as important as the roster itself.

Records that carry the case. The records an inspector or auditor looks for are consistent from one establishment to the next:

• appointment letters stating designation, wage components, working hours, probation and notice;
• attendance and leave registers that agree with payroll;
• wage registers, payslips and bank-payment evidence;
• overtime records made at the time, with payment traceable to them;
• night-shift consents, transport logs and committee records, where they apply;
• registrations, licences and statutory filings, kept in a form that can be produced on request.

Records should be accurate, legible, retrievable and retained for the period the applicable law requires. Where some of these documents do not exist, that fact is itself useful for the consultant to know at the first meeting.

10. Delhi-NCR Groups: Staff Across Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh

A large share of Delhi businesses operate across the state boundary. A trading company may keep its head office in Delhi and its warehouse in Faridabad or Ghaziabad; a services group may sit in Delhi with a delivery centre in Noida or Gurugram; a manufacturer may have its registered office in Delhi and its plant elsewhere in the region. Each state has its own Shops and Establishments law, welfare fund, minimum wage notifications and registrations, and Delhi’s rules do not carry across the boundary.

The practical controls are straightforward:

• maintain a register of every establishment, with its state, address, registrations, PF and ESIC codes and the head count by category;
• run a separate minimum wage mapping for each state, because a worker transferred across the boundary changes notification;
• confirm, for each state, which welfare fund and which professional tax or levy (if any) apply, using that state’s official sources;
• keep one consolidated calendar so that group payroll, accounts and HR see all due dates together;
• reconcile the group’s statutory cost by state, so that finance sees where compliance cost arises.

CA Murli Chandak serves employers across India, and the monthly cycle runs digitally, so a single engagement can cover the Delhi premises and the establishments in neighbouring states.

11. Industrial Relations, Gratuity, Bonus and Exits

11.1 The draft Delhi rules under the Industrial Relations Code

The draft Industrial Relations (Delhi) Rules, 2025, issued on 3 December 2025, give an early view of how Delhi may implement the Code, according to the Taxmann report on the draft. Among other things, the draft provides for a Works Committee of up to 20 members with worker representatives at least equal in number to employer representatives, a Grievance Redressal Committee of up to 10 members with equal employer and worker members, and a transfer to the government of an amount equal to 15 days’ last drawn wages on retrenchment, for payment to the worker through a Worker Re-Skilling Fund. These are draft provisions. They are mentioned here so that employers can plan, and the final rules, once notified, are the only authority for any decision.

11.2 Separation and settlement

Separation is where documentation gaps surface. The areas to keep in order are:

• Gratuity. Eligibility, calculation and nominations. The handbook states that a fixed-term employee is paid gratuity on completion of the contract period after one year of service (Section 53 of the Code on Social Security), while other employees are generally eligible after five years of continuous service.
• Bonus. Applicability and computation under the Code on Wages, tested against the wage definition that the establishment applies.
• Retrenchment, closure and layoffs. Industrial Relations Code requirements on notice, compensation and permissions should be checked before any restructuring is announced.
• Full and final settlement. Notice-period records, relieving documents and settlement computations should agree with payroll.
• Disciplinary process. A fair and documented process, with notices and an opportunity to respond, reduces the risk of later disagreement.

Unpaid dues should be recognised in the books at the right amount, and the effect of the wage definition on gratuity should be discussed with the actuary and reflected as the applicable standard (Ind AS 19 or AS 15, as relevant to the entity) requires. The financial statements and the HR records should tell the same story.

12. POSH Compliance

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 requires every employer to constitute an Internal Committee by written order (Section 4). Where an establishment has fewer than ten workers, the Act provides for a Local Committee at the district level (Section 6). The Committee submits an annual report (Section 21).

For Delhi employers the framework has an added significance: compliance with the POSH Act is one of the express conditions for employing women on night shifts under the amended Section 14 of the Shops Act. A workable framework includes an adopted policy, a properly constituted Committee with the required external member, periodic awareness sessions, a documented complaint procedure that respects both complainant and respondent, and a calendar for annual reporting. Branches, outlets and project sites that sit apart from the head office should be checked individually.

13. Labour Compliance in Funding, IPO and Acquisition Due Diligence

Investors, lenders and acquirers read labour compliance as a proxy for how well a company is run. Delhi-NCR family-owned groups preparing for a listing, venture-funded teams raising a round and promoters selling a stake all meet the same diligence questions: are PF and ESIC deposits regular, are registrations in place for every location, are contract workers properly documented, and are there unprovided liabilities in gratuity, bonus or arrears?

Because CA Murli Chandak is also an IBBI-Registered Valuer, the labour findings can be taken straight into the numbers: a provision for gratuity or arrears, an adjustment to a net asset value, or a disclosure in an offer document. Businesses planning a listing can read the guide to an IPO consultant in Delhi, and those planning an equity round or an ESOP can see the guides to a startup valuation consultant in Delhi and an ESOP consultant in Delhi. Clean labour records shorten diligence and reduce the chance of a price adjustment or an escrow at closing.

14. Inspections and Notices

Inspections and notices may come from the Delhi Labour Department, EPFO, ESIC, the Delhi Labour Welfare Board or, for contractor and construction matters, the relevant licensing authority. Their outcome usually turns on the quality of the records on file, so preparation is more effective than a last-minute response.

The handling process is consistent: record the date and deadline of the notice on the first day, identify the exact period and issue, reconcile the records, assemble the supporting documents and send a reasoned reply on time. A prepared document file, built in advance from the compliance calendar, turns most visits into routine events. Where a matter proceeds to prosecution, adjudication or a tribunal, the client’s advocate leads the legal presentation and CA Murli Chandak supports with the payroll, wage and records-side analysis.

15. How a Labour Law Consultant in Delhi Works With You

An engagement runs in defined stages:

1. Discussion and document review: operations, locations, workforce categories and existing registrations.
2. Applicability matrix: a table of each central and Delhi registration, return, record and policy, with frequency, owner and due date.
3. Gap analysis: comparison of what is in place with what the matrix requires, ranked by exposure.
4. Remediation: registrations, wage corrections, document redesign and contractor controls, in the order agreed.
5. Monthly or quarterly cycle: filings, payroll reconciliation, vendor checks and a short compliance report.
6. Change monitoring: a dated record of each Delhi notification, rule and amendment reviewed, including the commencement of Act 3 of 2026.

Who benefits most. Start-ups and growing companies building their first employment structure; shops, restaurants and retail businesses; corporate and professional offices; hospitals, schools and clinics; factories and workshops; construction businesses and contractors; manpower and facility-services providers; and groups with establishments across Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Documents that make the first meeting productive. Registration and licence details; employee lists and appointment letters; attendance, leave and wage records; payroll and statutory filing records; PF and ESIC registration and payment information; contractor agreements and supporting documents; earlier inspection notices and correspondence; and existing HR policies. The statutory responsibility for compliance remains with the employer. The consultant’s work is to advise, evidence and make the process reliable.

16. Fees and Engagement Models

Fees depend on scope: the number of establishments and locations, employee strength, the share of contract labour, the volume of PF, ESIC and welfare fund filings, and whether the work is one-time or a continuing retainer. CA Murli Chandak follows a scope-first approach. After the free consultation, a written quotation states what is covered, what the client’s team provides each month and how any notice work is billed. Government fees are shown separately from professional fees.

The usual models are:

1. Compliance health check: a one-time applicability review and gap analysis with a ranked remediation plan.
2. Project engagement: a defined assignment such as registration review after the Shops Act amendment, salary-structure review, POSH implementation, night-shift compliance set-up, onboarding and exit document redesign, or a reply to a specific notice.
3. Monthly or quarterly retainer: continuing support for filings, payroll reconciliation and compliance tracking.
4. Vendor compliance programme: periodic reviews of contractors and facility vendors on behalf of the principal employer.

Many employers begin with a health check and move to a retainer once the baseline is set.

17. Quick Reference Checklist for Delhi Employers

• Have you decided, location by location, whether the Delhi Shops and Establishments Act applies, and what changes once Act 3 of 2026 is brought into force, including the twenty-employee threshold?
• Have you confirmed from the Labour Department whether a commencement notification for Act 3 of 2026 has been issued?
• Are the Delhi Labour Welfare Fund contributions tracked for every covered employee and paid before 15 July and 15 January?
• Has every employee and contract worker been mapped to the correct Delhi minimum wage category against the current notification?
• Have salary structures been tested against the 50% wage rule?
• Are PF and ESIC deposits made on time and reconciled employee by employee?
• Does each contractor have a licence or registration where required, and is payment released only against proof?
• If women work night shifts, are written consents, CCTV, security, transport and the two-women requirement documented?
• Are appointment letters, attendance, wage and overtime records complete and retrievable?
• Is a POSH Internal Committee constituted, trained and reporting annually?
• For units in Haryana or Uttar Pradesh, is a separate registration and filing set maintained for each state?
• Have you reviewed the draft Delhi rules under the Codes and noted what will need to change once they are final?
• Do gratuity and bonus provisions in the books reflect the current wage definition?
• Is there a dated record of when each Delhi rule and notification was last reviewed?

18. Why Work With CA Murli Chandak as Your Labour Law Consultant in Delhi

CA Murli Chandak is a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) with 8+ years in practice. His grounding is in audit and assurance: he was earlier a Partner at an Ahmedabad CA firm handling bank statutory and concurrent audits and due diligence. That discipline of documented reconciliations and supported positions is what labour compliance now demands.

He is also an IBBI-Registered Valuer (Securities or Financial Assets), registration number IBBI/RV/07/2021/14408, with 300+ valuations completed across 7+ countries, 15+ purchase price allocations under Ind AS 103 and 30+ impairment tests under Ind AS 36. For a Delhi business planning a fundraise, an acquisition, an ESOP or a listing, this means labour compliance and valuation support come from one advisor who reads the numbers the way an investor’s team will.

The engagement is delivered digitally from Ahmedabad: online review meetings, secure document sharing and structured monthly reporting, with in-person meetings in Delhi arranged where the assignment calls for them. Employers often combine this work with GST compliance, Virtual CFO support, company registration or trademark protection. The same approach is described for other cities in the guides to a labour law consultant in Ahmedabad, a labour law consultant in Mumbai, a labour law consultant in Chennai and a labour law consultant in Bangalore. A fuller professional background is set out on the About page.

19. Frequently Asked Questions

What does a labour law consultant do for a Delhi employer?
The consultant identifies the central and Delhi laws that apply to the business, handles registrations and recurring filings, reviews wage structures, controls contractor compliance, builds the compliance calendar and supports inspections and notices.

Is a labour law consultant different from a labour lawyer?
Yes. A consultant provides compliance support, while an advocate gives legal advice on contested matters and represents clients before courts and tribunals. Many businesses need both at different times. Routine compliance sits with the consultant, and disputes that proceed to litigation are led by the advocate, with the consultant supplying the records and payroll analysis.

Do the new Labour Codes apply to my Delhi business already?
The four Codes took effect on 21 November 2025. How each provision applies to you depends on your establishment, your workforce and the rules notified, including Delhi’s rules, several of which were published in draft in December 2025. Confirm the status of each from the Delhi Labour Department’s notifications. A documented applicability review is the right first step.

What is the Delhi Shops and Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2026?
It is Act 3 of 2026, passed by the Delhi Legislative Assembly on 9 January 2026, assented to by the President on 23 February 2026 and published in the Delhi Gazette (Extraordinary) on 11 March 2026. It amends the 1954 Act on applicability, working hours, overtime, spread-over, the age reference and night work by women. It comes into force on a date to be notified by the Delhi Government.

Has the 2026 amendment come into force?
Section 1(2) provides that it comes into force on a date appointed by notification in the Official Gazette. The published material reviewed for this guide in October 2026 did not show a commencement notification. Confirm the position on the Delhi Labour Department’s website before changing rosters or registrations.

Will small Delhi establishments still need to register under the Shops Act?
The amendment inserts Section 1(5), which applies the Act to shops and establishments employing twenty or more employees. Once the amendment operates, an establishment below that size would fall outside the Act, and the applicable registration route, for example under the OSH Code, should be assessed location by location.

Can women work night shifts in Delhi?
Under the replaced Section 14, women may be employed between 9 pm and 7 am in summer and between 8 pm and 8 am in winter with their written consent, subject to conditions including CCTV surveillance, security, safe transport (including for contractor employees), at least two women employees on the night shift and compliance with the POSH Act, 2013.

What is the Delhi Labour Welfare Fund contribution?
The Board’s page states Rs 0.75 from the employee and Rs 2.25 from the employer per employee for each half-year, for establishments employing five or more persons, with the employer share due before 15 July and 15 January. Confirm current amounts and dates with the Delhi Labour Welfare Board at each filing.

Is professional tax payable in Delhi?
Delhi does not appear among the states that levy professional tax. Employees posted to states that do levy it remain subject to those states’ rules, so a Delhi payroll that includes such staff should be mapped separately.

How do I know the current Delhi minimum wage?
Delhi’s minimum wages are notified by the Government of NCT of Delhi by category of worker and revised periodically. Use the latest notification on the Labour Department’s website and map each employee to the correct category. Rates quoted on third-party websites can be stale.

Does every business have to register for PF and ESIC?
Not automatically. EPFO’s guidance refers to specified establishments employing 20 or more persons, and ESIC covers non-seasonal factories with 10 or more persons plus other categories extended by notification. The ESIC wage ceiling is Rs 21,000 a month. Assess each case on the EPFO and ESIC frameworks.

What is the 50% wages rule?
Under the Code on Wages, where allowances and other listed exclusions exceed 50% of total pay, the excess is treated as wages. It can raise the base for contributions and gratuity, so salary structures should be reviewed.

Am I responsible if my contractor does not pay workers?
Under the OSH Code as summarised in the Ministry’s handbook, the principal employer is liable to pay the contract labour where the contractor fails to pay wages (Section 55). Monthly proof-based payment release is the practical safeguard.

I have offices in Delhi and in Gurugram or Noida. Do Delhi’s rules cover all of them?
No. Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have their own state laws, welfare funds and minimum wage notifications, and each establishment needs its own registrations and filings. A consolidated register and calendar keep the group in view.

Does hiring a consultant transfer statutory responsibility away from the employer?
No. The statutory responsibility remains with the employer. A consultant supports, advises and evidences the process, but the employer remains accountable for compliance.

How often should a labour compliance review be done?
At least once a year, and after expansion, restructuring, a change of contractors, the commencement of the Shops Act amendment or the finalisation of a Delhi rule.

Can an Ahmedabad-based Chartered Accountant handle labour compliance for a Delhi company?
Yes. The monthly cycle runs digitally through secure document sharing, online reviews and structured reporting, and CA Murli Chandak serves employers across Delhi-NCR and India on the same process, with in-person meetings in Delhi where an assignment needs them.

Book a Free 30-Minute Labour Compliance Consultation

Whether you need an applicability review under the Labour Codes and the Delhi statutes, a registration decision ahead of the Shops Act amendment, a wage-structure test, contractor controls or a reply to a notice, the starting point is the same conversation. The first 30 minutes are free.

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CA Murli Chandak – FCA | IBBI-Registered Valuer (Securities or Financial Assets) | IBBI/RV/07/2021/14408
Website: murlichandak.com
Phone: +91 99985 39902
Email: murlichandak@murlichandak.com
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Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal, tax or professional advice. Labour-law rules, rates, thresholds and state notifications change, and the positions stated here were checked against publicly available official and published sources in October 2026. The Delhi Shops and Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2026 is recent, and its commencement and the Delhi rules under the Labour Codes should be confirmed from the Delhi Labour Department before acting. Please confirm all positions against the latest official material. Engagement terms, scope and fees are confirmed in writing before any assignment begins.

Related reading: Labour Law Consultant in Ahmedabad | Labour Law Consultant in Mumbai | Labour Law Consultant in Chennai | Labour Law Consultant in Bangalore | GST Consultant in Delhi | Virtual CFO in Delhi NCR | Registered Valuer in Delhi | Accounts Outsourcing Services | CFO Services | About CA Murli Chandak