Blog
HR insider takes on careers, corporate life, and the truths most people sugarcoat.
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50% Wage Rule: What HR Needs to Do in 2026
By Mayank Kulshrestha | AGM – Human Resources, Reliance Retail | About the author | Last reviewed: August 2026 The 50% wage rule has created one big misconception: “Basic Salary must now be 50% of CTC.” That is not the right way to look at it. For HR teams, the real question is: Does our…
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He Told Me He Was Fine
My father passed away last year. Even today, I find it difficult to write that sentence. He was placed on a ventilator and remained on it for 17 days. Even today, I do not know whether he had already passed away when he was put on the ventilator, or whether he was still in a…
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50% Wage Rule: How to Calculate Gratuity With Examples
By Mayank Kulshrestha | AGM – Human Resources, Reliance Retail | About the author | Last reviewed: August 2026 If you have already read how the 50% wage rule affects gratuity, the next question is usually this: How much can my gratuity actually increase? There is no single answer. The impact depends on three things:…
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How the 50% Wage Rule Affects Gratuity in India
By Mayank Kulshrestha | AGM – Human Resources, Reliance Retail | About the author | Last reviewed: August 2026 The 50% wage rule and gratuity are now closely linked under India’s new Labour Codes. One of the most common questions employees and HR teams ask is: does the 50% wage rule increase gratuity? The short…
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Code on Wages, 2019: What HR, Employers and Employees Need to Know in 2026
By Mayank Kulshrestha | AGM – Human Resources, Reliance Retail | About the author | Last reviewed: August 2026 The salary structure you designed five years ago may not mean exactly what you think it means today. India’s Code on Wages, 2019 is now part of the country’s operational labour-law framework. The four Labour Codes…
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Maternity Benefits Under the New Labour Codes – What Every HR Leader Needs to Know in 2026
By Mayank Kulshrestha | AGM – Human Resources, Reliance Retail | About the author | August 18, 2026 The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 has been subsumed into Chapter VI of the Code on Social Security, 2020. From 21 November 2025, maternity benefits are governed by Sections 59 to 72 of that Code. The Code on…
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If AI Can Do 50% of Your Job, Should You Still Get a 10% Appraisal?
Last week a manager walked into my cabin and said, almost casually, “Sir, AI ne mera 40-50% kaam kar diya. Appraisal mein toh consideration milega na?” I didn’t reply immediately. I just looked at him. I suspect this conversation is happening quietly in a lot of companies right now. Not in townhalls. In corridors, in…
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When There’s No Work From Home Policy, Why Are People Still Asking for It?
I’ve been getting the same type of requests for a while now. “Bike slipped because of rain, can I work from home?” “Feeling a little cold, requesting WFH today.” “I’m not fully well but I have some work, so marking WFH.” There is no Work From Home policy. Yet the requests keep coming. Managers often…
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Internal Mobility: How to Improve Retention, Reduce Hiring Costs & Optimize Talent
In retail HR, I’ve watched organizations spend months and lakhs recruiting externally while employees with transferable skills sat on the payroll, unnoticed. The roles eventually got filled. The internal candidates often left within a year. Not because they lacked capability — but because no structured internal mobility process existed. That experience stays with me. It…
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Why “just be patient” is bad career adviceThe 9 Percent Illusion
Picture this. You are sitting in your Delhi office, staring at your payslip, wondering why your hike feels like pocket change. Everyone talks about that shiny 9 percent average salary increase for 2026 in India. It shows up in Aon surveys, Mercer reports, and Deloitte compensation trends. Sounds solid. But averages hide distribution. Auto and…