Joining My First Job: How Do I Discuss CTC Breakdown and Allowances with HR?

I am joining an organized establishment for the first time and want to know about CTC breakups for a 25K salary per month, and other allowances like PF/ESI, etc. Please guide me in detail on how to discuss this with the HR head as early as possible. I do not have any salary slips or certificates as I have never received them in the past and cannot obtain them now. Can I be considered a fresher? Your early reply is awaited.

A fresher

Hi Pavan,

The contents of the salary breakup are as follows. You can prepare it as per your convenience. HRA should be 40 to 60% of the basic salary.

- Basic
- HRA
- TA
- Other Allowance
- Mobile Reimbursement per month
- Gross Per Month: Sum of all the above
- Gross Per Annum: 12*Gross/Month
- PF Contribution: 12% of Basic/Annum
- ESI Contribution: 4.75% of Gross/Annum
- Medical: The mediclaim facility is provided to employees who are not covered under ESI, as the maximum ceiling for ESI is 10,000/Month. Any amount exceeding this will be covered under Mediclaim or as per company policy.
- Ex-Gratia/Bonus: A fixed amount as a bonus
- Annual Fixed Gross Cost: Gross/Annum + Ex-gratia
- Annual Total Cost: AFGC + PF + ESIC
- Annual total cost is also known as CTC.

I hope this information helps you in preparing the required details at your end.

Regards,
Amit Seth

Thanks for your reply, Mr. Amit. I am new here and still grateful for clearing the following doubts: will PF and ESI be deducted from the salary or added to the CTC?

Suppose the gross amount is 25k, with 12000 as basic, 6000 as HRA, and 3000 for conveyance and phone. This totals 21000. What about the remaining 4000? How will that be compensated?

Will PF and ESI deductions of 2390/annum be calculated by adding or deducting them? Could you please explain this in detail? What is LTA and how does it work?

Welcome, Mr. Pawan.

I have added the PF and ESI contributions from the employer's side to the CTC. For a gross salary of 25000/-, please review the breakdown below:

- Basic: 12000
- HRA: 6000
- CCA: 800
- Medical: 1200
- Phone: 3000
- Other Allowance: 2000
- Gross Salary: 25000
- Gross/Annum: 3,00000

You can calculate your CTC by adding the PF contribution to the Gross/Annum amount.

Regards,
Amit Seth.

Dear All,

Whenever we are designing a salary, our core concern is to reduce liability from the organizational side and provide the maximum in-hand salary to the employee. For achieving this, the ideal breakdown would be as follows:

- Basic = 40%
- HRA = 50%
- Special Allowances
- Medical Reimbursement up to $15,000 per annum
- Education = $200 per month
- LTA = Payable after one year of basic
- PF Contribution = 12%

Thank you and regards,
Jayendra Chaturvedi

Hi, this is Kalyan,

I need information regarding how the PF, ESI, HRA, DA Medical, DA, and conveyance allowance can be distributed for a person with a CTC salary of Rs. 9000.

Hi, this is Rajesh. I need information on how the PF, ESI, HRA, DA Medical, DA, and conveyance allowance can be distributed for a person with a CTC salary of 26,666.