Appointment letter is not just for compliance​

Vimala* (name changed) is a housekeeping staff working at ABC contractual services. She joined in March 2023, and was promised net wages of INR 11,700. She was not given an appointment letter at the time of her joining. After the first month of work, she received only INR 10,800 per month, INR 900 less than what was promised. ​

Female housekeeping worker at ABC contractual services

ABC workers are provided their salary slips in digital format only. Vimala, however, did not have a smartphone, and had to rely on her friend to download and access her digital salary slip. She was not literate and couldn't comprehend the deductions in the pay slip. ​

Vimala felt cheated of the wages she was due and had to deal with the consequences of this at home. Her husband and in-laws inquired about the wage discrepancy, and she was unable to justify the mismatch in the wages paid. Her family asked if she had remained absent from work without informing them or was trying to hide some money from the salary for personal use before sharing it further for home expenditure​

Observations:​

• The absence of an appointment letter meant that her employer’s wage obligation to her was merely verbal, not contractual. ​

• The monthly salary slip is inaccessible to her because of the format, the language, and the low awareness dissemination regarding deductions. ​

• Contractual workers facing intersections of marginalisation such as gender, class, and literacy have a higher pay-off in the absence of these provisions.​