India's labour law landscape changes every cycle. What was fine two years ago may expose you today. We find the gaps before a regulator or a disgruntled ex-employee does.
We are not lawyers and this is not a legal opinion. An HR compliance audit maps your people practices against statutory and regulatory expectations so you know where the gaps are before someone else finds them.
Beyond checking whether documents exist, we look at whether your actual practices match your policies. The gap between what your offer letter says and what you do is where most exposure lives.
Every finding comes with a priority rating and a specific remediation step. Not a theoretical risk framework. A clear list of what to fix, in what order, with what outcome.
We audit against current Indian labour law, not last year's standards. The ones marked high-risk are usually where founders are most surprised.
Internal Complaints Committee constitution, training documentation, annual report filing, and policy alignment with the 2013 Act. One of the most frequently incomplete areas we find.
Offer letters, appointment letters, NDA clauses, IP assignment, non-compete enforceability, and employee handbook statutory alignment.
PF, ESIC, professional tax, gratuity provisioning, bonus computation, and leave encashment. We check both the calculation and the filing accuracy.
The contractor vs FTE line is where most startups have significant exposure. We review classification criteria, agreement structures, and control-test compliance.
Notice periods, full and final settlement timelines, experience letter obligations, relieving process, and non-disparagement enforceability.
Shops & Establishments Act registration, working hours compliance, overtime provisions, and state-specific requirements for your office locations.
Leave policies against the Maternity Benefit Act, paternity and adoption leave, anti-discrimination policies, and grievance redressal mechanism documentation.
DPDP Act-readiness for employee data, consent documentation, background verification practices, and BYOD and data handling policy alignment.
We work asynchronously where possible. Most of what we need comes from documents, not from pulling your people into meetings.
We understand your company stage, headcount, locations, and employment structure. A targeted document request follows , not a blanket data dump, only what we need to audit your specific risk profile.
⏰ 1–2 daysWe review your employment documents, policies, payroll structure, POSH records, and statutory filings. We also check whether your actual practices match what your documents say.
⏰ 1–2 weeksEvery gap is rated by priority (critical, significant, advisory) with a plain-language explanation of the exposure, the applicable statute or regulation, and a specific remediation step.
⏰ 3–5 daysWe walk through every finding with your leadership team. You leave with a prioritised remediation plan, template documents for the most common fixes, and optional implementation support.
⏰ 2-hour sessionYou went from 10 to 80 people in 18 months. Your HR policies haven't kept pace. The POSH committee was an afterthought. Your contractor agreements were written in 2022. Time to check.
Investors and their legal teams will conduct HR due diligence. A compliance audit before the round means fewer surprises in the data room and a cleaner close.
A contentious separation, a POSH complaint, or a wrongful termination notice is usually the trigger for an audit. Better done now than prompted by a legal notice.
Indian labour law is complex and state-specific. If you are setting up a team here for the first time, a compliance framework from day one costs a fraction of fixing it later.
The contractor vs FTE classification risk is highest here. If your business model relies on a large contract workforce, the exposure is usually significant.
Starting a new HR function and inheriting everything from before you arrived? An audit in your first 90 days tells you exactly what you have taken on and where to start.
Every engagement produces these specific outputs. Not a generic framework. A compliance picture specific to your company.
A structured, plain-language report covering all eight audit areas, every gap found, risk rating, and applicable statute.
A 30/60/90-day action plan telling you what to fix first, what can wait, and what is advisory rather than urgent.
For the most common gaps, we include template language you can adopt , POSH policy, offer letter clauses, contractor agreements, NDA updates.
A two-hour session walking through every finding. Questions answered, priorities clarified, and remediation ownership assigned.
A short follow-up four weeks after delivery to check which critical items have been addressed and whether you need any clarification on the findings.
For companies that want us to fix, not just find, we can take over implementation of the remediation plan as a separate engagement.
| Area | DIY / generic checklist | Bridgewell Compliance Audit |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | Whatever your HR team has time for | All eight areas, consistently |
| State specificity | National-level rules only | State-specific S&E and payroll rules |
| Practice vs policy gap | Usually misses it | Explicitly audited |
| POSH depth | Checks if a policy exists | IC constitution, training, filings, meeting records |
| Contractor classification | Rarely covered | Full control-test review |
| Output | A spreadsheet | Prioritised report + templates + session |
| Remediation | Left to you | Specific steps, optional implementation |
If your question is not here, email Shakkir directly: support@bridgewell-advisory.in
One scoping conversation tells us what your audit should cover and gives you an honest view of your exposure. No commitment required to have that call.