Salary structures for site and office staff
Build every structure from monthly gross, split into Basic, DA, HRA and Special by company percentages, with fixed allowances such as site allowance set up as salary components. Then check the balance. Under the Code on Wages, basic plus DA must be at least half of total remuneration. If a junior engineer's gross is ₹40,000 and basic plus DA is only ₹16,000, the ₹4,000 gap up to ₹20,000 is added back to wages, raising the PF, gratuity and bonus base. Setting basic plus DA at half of gross from the start avoids surprises.
Booking incentives and cancellations
Sales incentives cause most payroll disputes in real estate. A common policy pays the incentive when the buyer's agreement is registered or a set part of the price is collected, not at booking, because bookings cancel. The sales head sends the approved list at month end and HR enters each amount as an incentive input. If a paid booking later cancels, the policy should say whether the incentive is recovered, and HR enters any recovery as an adjustment deduction, within the limits on deductions from wages.
Month-end inputs from every site
Collect everything before the run, not during it. The site accounts officer confirms finalized attendance, approved overtime and advance recoveries for site staff, the sales head confirms incentives, and admin confirms reimbursements such as travel between sites, which HR adds as payroll inputs because expense claims are settled outside the system. The run is drafted, recomputed after any late correction and then finalized, and a finalized run is sealed and read-only.
- Finalized attendance for every site
- Approved overtime, already turned into earnings
- Sales incentives signed off by the sales head
- Travel and site reimbursements confirmed by admin
- Salary advances due for recovery
Statutory items and project costing
Payslips show employee PF, ESI and state professional tax, with employer PF split into EPS and EPF, and employer ESI. Professional tax follows state rules, so attach each person to the location where they actually work: an engineer moved from a Pune site to a Bengaluru site moves to a different state's rules. Every employee also carries a project cost centre, so the finalized payroll can be exported and split by project for costing. Pay by the 7th of the following month, as the wage payment rules require.
How to set it up in ZeniaHR
- Set each employee's monthly gross in Direct Payroll and split it into Basic, DA, HRA and Special by company percentages, keeping basic plus DA at half of gross.
- Add site allowance and similar fixed allowances as salary components, and give every site employee a project cost centre.
- Decide whether part-month salary for joiners and leavers is prorated on calendar days or a fixed 30-day month, and apply the same choice at every site.
- Each month, enter incentives, reimbursements, advance recoveries and adjustments as payroll inputs; approved overtime and leave encashment arrive as earnings on their own.
- Run payroll from the finalized attendance month, review the draft, finalize it, and move payment batches from draft to approved to paid.
- Share payslip PDFs with staff and give accounts the payroll report exports, so salary costs can be split by project.
Read more about payroll in ZeniaHR.
Roles this applies to
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How are sales incentives paid in real estate companies?
Most developers pay incentives once a booking is secure, for example after agreement registration or when a set part of the price is collected, because bookings can cancel. The sales head approves the list at month end and HR adds each amount as an incentive input in payroll. The policy should state what happens if a booking cancels later.
Does site allowance affect PF wages?
It can. Under the Code on Wages, basic pay plus DA must be at least half of total remuneration, and any allowance above that line counts as wages, so the base for PF, gratuity and bonus goes up. If site allowance pushes basic plus DA below half of pay, rework the structure before offers go out.
When must construction companies pay monthly salaries?
Monthly wages must be paid by the 7th of the following month under the Code on Wages, and when an employee leaves for any reason, wages are due within two working days. Close attendance for every site early in the month, so payroll is not waiting on one remote site's corrections.
How do you split payroll costs by project in a construction company?
Give every employee a project cost centre and update it on the day they transfer between projects. Export the finalized payroll reports and let accounts group salaries by cost centre. Engineers shared across two projects need an agreed split, which accounts applies outside payroll.