Gross Salary
Gross salary is total earnings for a period before any deductions — basic, allowances and any other earnings added together, but before PF, tax or recoveries.
Also known as: gross pay, gross salary meaning
It sits between CTC and net pay, and confusing the three is the source of most payslip questions. CTC includes employer costs the employee never receives; gross is what the employee has earned; net is what reaches their account after deductions.
Gross is the base for some calculations and not others, which is what makes it worth naming precisely. ESI contributions are computed on gross wages, while provident fund is computed on basic plus dearness allowance. Two deductions on the same payslip therefore have different bases and move differently when a salary changes.
Gross also varies month to month in ways CTC does not — unpaid absence, overtime, a bonus or a reimbursement all change it, which is why an employee comparing two payslips is often comparing two different gross figures without realising.
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Payroll
Payroll support & integration: salary structures, attendance-to-payroll inputs, payslip access, reimbursements, and a clean hand-off to your payroll provider.
See payrollRelated terms
CTC (Cost to Company)
CTC is the total annual cost an employer bears for an employee — salary, allowances, employer contributions and benefits combined — not the amount the employee receives.
Net Salary (Take-Home)
Net salary is what actually reaches an employee's bank account — gross earnings for the period less every deduction and recovery.
Basic Salary
Basic salary is the fixed core of an employee's pay, before allowances — and the figure most statutory calculations in India are computed on.
ESI (Employees' State Insurance)
ESI is India's statutory health and social security scheme for employees earning below a wage threshold, funded by contributions from both the employee and the employer.