Salary slip verification
How to verify a candidate's salary slips, catch forgeries, and know when to call in a professional.
What is salary slip verification?
Confirming that a candidate's payslips are genuine and accurately reflect their employment and pay. HR teams run this check to:
- Confirm the candidate actually worked where they claim.
- Verify the CTC and designation match what was declared.
- Prevent inflated salary claims during negotiation.
- Meet audit requirements in regulated industries (BFSI, healthcare).
Salary forgery is more common than most HR teams expect — a 2024 industry survey found 1 in 6 candidates submits at least one modified document during hiring.
What a legitimate salary slip must contain
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Company name & address | Must match the registered company name, not a trade name or abbreviation. |
| Employee name & ID | The employee ID should be consistent across multiple slips. |
| Employer PAN | Verifiable against MCA / Income Tax records. |
| PF deduction (EPF) | If basic salary is over ₹15,000, PF is mandatory — its absence is a major red flag. |
| TDS deduction | Should align with the income tax slab; zero TDS on a high salary is suspicious. |
| ESI (if applicable) | Required if gross salary is ₹21,000 a month or below. |
| Month & year | The payslip period must be stated and consistent with the claimed tenure. |
Red flags for a forged payslip
No PF deduction on salaries above ₹15,000 basic. The most reliable signal — PF is legally mandatory for most employers.
Inconsistent fonts or alignment. Payroll software produces consistent formatting; mixed fonts and irregular spacing point to manual editing.
Round numbers in every component. Real payroll produces odd numbers (HRA at 40% of basic, PT varying by state).
CTC that doesn't add up. Basic + HRA + allowances should equal gross; gross minus deductions should equal net.
An unverifiable company name. If it isn't in the MCA21 portal, it isn't a registered entity.
How to verify a salary slip, step by step
At mca.gov.in → Master Data, confirm it is an active registered entity and the CIN and PAN match.
The TDS on the payslips should aggregate to the Form 16. A mismatch means the slips were altered.
Ask for the EPFO passbook; PF amounts should match the payslips month by month.
Use the official HR contact (from MCA or LinkedIn), not the number the candidate gives you.
For high-volume hiring, MPloyChek's AI layer detects formatting anomalies, pixel-level edits, and metadata issues automatically.
Free HR salary slip verification checklist
Print this and use it when reviewing salary slips by hand.
Salary slip verification checklist
Candidate: __________________ Date: __________________
- ☐ Company name is verifiable on MCA21
- ☐ Employer PAN is present and valid
- ☐ Employee ID is consistent across all months
- ☐ Month / year period is clearly stated
- ☐ PF deduction present (if basic is over ₹15,000)
- ☐ TDS is proportionate to income
- ☐ ESI present if gross is ₹21,000 a month or below
- ☐ Earnings components add up to gross salary
- ☐ Gross minus deductions equals net pay
- ☐ No suspiciously round numbers in every component
- ☐ TDS matches Form 16 / ITR (if available)
- ☐ PF matches the EPFO passbook
- ☐ Confirmed with the previous employer's HR directly
Skip the manual process
MPloyChek verifies salary slips with AI document analysis — detecting forgeries, cross-checking EPFO, and producing a signed report in hours.
