The HR checklist for startups after a seed or Series A raise

The money is in the bank. The hiring plan is ambitious. And for the next 12 months, your team will probably grow faster than at any other time.

This is exactly when HR foundations matter most, and when founders have the least time for them. Here is a 90-day checklist to get them in place, in the order that matters.

01Days 1 to 30: fix the foundations

Start with what protects the company. These are the gaps investors find in due diligence, and the hardest to fix later.

• Audit every contract. Every employee should have a signed offer letter and appointment letter, and every consultant a signed agreement. With 10 or more workers, appointment letters have been a legal requirement under the OSH Code since 21 November 2025. Staff who joined earlier should have had one by 21 February 2026, so fix any gaps first and confirm your position with your adviser.
• Close IP gaps. Everyone who has built your product should have signed an IP assignment: founders, early employees, consultants and interns. A consultant usually owns what they create unless a signed, written assignment says otherwise. Investors check this early.
• Check worker classification. Long-running "consultants" who work like employees are a risk. Decide now who should move to payroll, using the legal tests for consultants, employees and interns.
• Map your statutory obligations. What applies depends on headcount, wages and state. Shops and establishments registration or intimation as your state requires, professional tax where your state levies it, and a written POSH policy start with your first hire. At 10 employees you need a POSH Internal Committee, and interns and trainees count. ESI also starts at 10, for staff earning up to ₹21,000 a month where ESIC covers your area. PF applies from 20 employees, counting everyone whatever their pay. It is compulsory for staff with PF wages up to ₹25,000 a month, a ceiling raised from ₹15,000 on 17 September 2026. The four labour codes have applied since 21 November 2025, but state rules are patchy, so check your state's rules.
• Organise employee records. Contracts, ID and address proofs, bank details and signed policies, stored in one place that you could share in a data room.

03Days 61 to 90: prepare to scale

With the foundations in place, prepare for the next 20 hires.

• Create salary bands. Even simple ranges for each level stop you making inconsistent offers you will regret.
• Standardise hiring. One offer letter template, one approval flow and a structured interview scorecard.
• Explain ESOPs clearly. If you are granting options, give employees a plain-language note on vesting, exercise and what happens if they leave. The company's side is covered in what founders get wrong about ESOPs.
• Plan your first performance review. Light and simple: two or three questions, done twice a year.
• Write your exit process. Notice periods, handover, asset recovery and full and final settlement. Under the Code on Wages, wages due to a leaving employee must be paid within two working days; under the Code on Social Security, any gratuity is due within 30 days. So plan the settlement before the last day, not after.
• Set up a compliance calendar of filing dates, insurance renewals and policy reviews. Once you have an Internal Committee, add its POSH annual report, which it files with you and the District Officer each calendar year, so check your district's deadline.

Your first difficult exit will come sooner than you think.

05You don't need a full-time HR hire to do this

Most of this list is a one-time set-up, followed by a few hours a week of ongoing work. That is why many funded startups under 50 people use a fractional HR business partner: senior HR experience and ready-made systems, without the cost of a full-time hire. If you are weighing the two, read when a startup should hire its first HR person.