HR compliance calendar: October and November 2026

Most months, payroll compliance is a routine: compute, deduct, deposit, file. October and November 2026 are not most months. A new EPF wage ceiling lands in its first return, salary TDS is reported on a renamed form, states are racing a labour-code deadline, statutory bonus falls due, and the data protection rules reach their first anniversary. Several of these are covered in depth elsewhere on this blog; this post puts them on one page, in date order, with what to do about each.

Already happened: 30 September and 1 October

The ESIC Amnesty Scheme window closed on 30 September. ESIC's Amnesty Scheme 2025, announced as running from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026, offered employers a route to settle pending ESI litigation, damages, interest and coverage disputes out of court. If you had an old ESI dispute and did not use the window, talk to your adviser about where that leaves you; we have not seen an extension announced.

Central-sphere minimum wages were revised from 1 October. The variable dearness allowance (VDA) for scheduled employments in the central sphere is revised every April and October based on the consumer price index for industrial workers. Compliance trackers report a Labour Bureau order dated 30 September 2026 revising VDA with effect from 1 October, after the average CPI-IW rose from 424.80 to 431.42. The central sphere covers a limited set of establishments, such as those under central government authority, railways, mines, major ports and central public sector undertakings, including contractors working for them. Most private employers are bound instead by their state's notified minimum wages, which states revise on their own cycles.

What to do: confirm which minimum wage notification applies to each of your locations and categories of workers, and check that nobody's wages fall below the revised rate. Contractors' workers count too: the principal employer carries risk if a contractor underpays.

15 October: the first EPF return at ₹25,000

The EPF wage ceiling for mandatory coverage rose from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 a month with effect from 17 September 2026. The September wage month's EPF contribution and electronic challan-cum-return are due by 15 October, which makes this the first return under the new ceiling, and a split month at that. ESI contributions for September are due on the same date; note that the ESI wage threshold was not part of this change.

What to do: enrol newly covered employees, update the contribution cap if you use one, decide and document your September method, and file on time. Our full guide: EPF wage ceiling is now ₹25,000: what payroll must change.

31 October: Form 138 for July to September

From 1 April 2026, salary TDS is governed by the Income-tax Act, 2025, and the quarterly statement of tax deducted from salaries formerly filed on Form 24Q is now Form 138. The statement for the July to September quarter is due on 31 October 2026, the same date the old Q2 return used to fall on. The annual salary certificate formerly known as Form 16 is now Form 130.

What to do: make sure your TDS software and your payroll export produce the new form, reconcile the quarter's deductions with the challans deposited, and check PANs before filing. Mismatches found now are cheaper than mismatches found in May. Employees' regime choices still drive their monthly TDS, as we covered in new versus old tax regime: what payroll must do.

31 October: state labour code rules

The Centre expects every state and Union Territory to notify rules under the four labour codes by 31 October. As of 24 September, the Labour Secretary said ten states had published rules and the rest had issued drafts. For most private employers, it is the state rules that settle registers, returns and many practical details.

What to do: check the status in each state where you have employees, read the drafts if final rules are not out, and start with the parts already in force, such as the wage definition and timely payment of wages on exit. Our guide: labour codes: states have until 31 October.

Mid-November: DPDP's first anniversary

The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 were notified on 14 November 2025 with an eighteen-month phased timeline. The one-year mark brings in the Consent Manager provisions; most of the obligations that matter for employee data, including security safeguards, breach notification and individuals' rights, apply from May 2027.

What to do: use the months in between to map employee data, set retention periods, tighten access and write a breach runbook. Our guide: DPDP's November milestone: what it means for your employee data.

19 November: the EPFO board meets

Business Today reported on 12 October that the EPFO's Central Board of Trustees is likely to hold its 240th meeting on 19 November in Gir, Gujarat. The agenda was not final, but according to the report, trustees had flagged the new ₹25,000 wage threshold and the need to review the minimum pension under the Employees' Pension Scheme, currently ₹1,000 a month.

What to do: nothing yet. Watch the outcome; decisions at this board tend to become payroll changes a few months later.

30 November: statutory bonus

Under the Code on Wages, bonus must be paid by crediting the employee's bank account within eight months of the close of the accounting year. For companies on an April to March year, that is 30 November 2026 for the year that ended on 31 March 2026. Eligible employees are entitled to a minimum bonus of 8.33% of wages even in a year with no profit, subject to the Code's conditions. Many companies pay before Diwali anyway; the legal deadline is what matters if you do not.

What to do: confirm who is eligible under the Code's wage threshold, compute bonus on the right wage base, and pay through the bank. Cash bonuses are not the defensible route.

One page, one owner

The pattern across all of these is the same: none needs clever judgement, all of them need someone to own a date. For a small company, that usually means writing these dates into one calendar, assigning a name to each, and checking a week before. The payroll runbook for small companies describes how to make the monthly cycle mechanical.

Where ZekoHR fits

ZekoHR's payroll runs monthly cycles with a pre-flight review before anything is finalized: missing PANs, UANs and bank details surface as findings before the run, not after the return bounces. Bonus and one-off payments can be added as lines on the run, so the 30 November payout sits on the same payslip and register as everything else. Statutory deductions in ZekoHR are payroll components you configure, so when a rate or ceiling changes, you update the component rather than recalculating by hand.

Sources

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Due dates can be extended by notification and obligations vary by state and establishment; confirm current requirements with a qualified professional.

The HR and payroll compliance calendar for October and November 2026