Are Your India Contractors Actually Employees?
In India the label on the contract doesn't decide it — how the work happens does. Answer a few questions and get an honest misclassification risk read, whether you should convert to EOR or can keep them as contractors, the cost either way, and a clear next step.
Risk read
Six-factor employee-status test, scored 0–100
Cost picture
Contractor spend against fully-loaded EOR cost
Exposure estimate
Potential back statutory and penalties if reclassified
A clear next step
Convert, restructure or keep — whichever actually fits
Tell Us About Your Contractors
Answer honestly — the risk read is only as good as the inputs.
What you pay each one today, before any Wisemonk fee.
Which of these are true?
Each one makes a contractor look more like an employee in substance.
Misclassification risk
—
Current spend
—
Cost to convert
—
Time to convert
~3 wks
Why this verdict?
What's driving the risk — the six-factor test
Filled bars are the factors that apply to you. The more that apply, the harder the contractor label is to defend.
Contractor cost vs EOR-employee cost, per month
Fully-loaded cost per converted head
- Base gross (unchanged)
- Statutory load (EPF/ESI/gratuity)
- Wisemonk EOR fee
- Total per head per month
Illustrative exposure if reclassified
Back statutory
Penalties and interest
Total potential exposure
Directional estimate of unpaid employer contributions plus damages and interest an authority could levy. Not legal advice — a consultation sizes your actual exposure.
Cost to convert vs exposure carried, over the engagement
- Cost to convert
- Exposure if not
The compliance cost is a steady, modest line. The exposure you carry by waiting compounds with every month engaged.
What an EOR conversion would change
Removes
- Misclassification and PE risk
- Personal liability for back taxes
- IP ownership gaps in contractor terms
- Unpaid statutory exposure
Adds
- Compliant employment contracts
- Statutory benefits (EPF/ESI/gratuity)
- IP-assignment and DPDP clauses
- POSH and payroll compliance, run monthly
- Conversion cost. We keep the person's gross pay the same and add the employer layer — effective statutory ~15% (EPF 12% of capped basic, gratuity ~4.81%, ESI where applicable) plus the flat $99/employee Wisemonk EOR fee.
- Risk score. A weighted read of the six substance-over-form tests Indian authorities and courts apply — control over hours, exclusivity, engagement length, integration, tools and personal service. Regulated industries carry extra weight.
- Exposure. An illustrative estimate of unpaid employer statutory contributions over the engagement (capped at 36 months) plus a 1× allowance for damages and interest. Actual exposure depends on facts and enforcement.
- EOR fee. Wisemonk EOR from $99 per employee per month, flat — not a percentage of salary.
Figures are directional and are not legal or tax advice. The risk score is a weighted read of the substance-over-form tests Indian authorities apply, not a determination. Exposure is an illustrative estimate of back employer contributions plus damages and interest, capped at 36 months of engagement. A consultation validates your risk and exposure for your specific arrangements.
Get this checked against your actual contracts
A Wisemonk expert reviews how your contractors really work and sizes the risk properly — free, and we only suggest converting if it's warranted.
