Philippines vs Malaysia vs India: Where to Build Your First Offshore Team (Employer Cost and Risk View)

There is no single correct answer, and this article does not name a winner. The three countries differ on employer-side mechanics more than on headline rates. The Philippines adds a mandatory 13th-month payment and three separate agency contributions (SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG). Malaysia's employer contributions (EPF, SOCSO, EIS) depend heavily on whether the employee is a citizen or a foreign national. India has the largest legal moving part: four labour codes took effect on 21 November 2025, while rules, state positions and the EPF wage ceiling (raised to INR 25,000 from 17 September 2026) are still settling. A foreign company can employ in all three through an employer of record (EOR), a local entity or, with real limits, contractors. Rates below are as of October 2026 and come from official pages.

Table of Contents

1. Start With the Team You Are Building, Not the Country
2. Three Ways to Employ in Asia Without an Existing Presence
3. The Philippines: What an Employer Pays and Owes
4. Malaysia: What an Employer Pays and Owes
5. India: What an Employer Pays and Owes, and Where the Labour Codes Stand
6. Side-by-Side Table of Employer On-Costs
7. Leave, Probation, Notice, Termination and Minimum Wage Compared
8. Risk Areas: Misclassification, Data, IP and Language
9. Scorecard: Qualitative Ratings, Explained
10. Decision Guide by Team Type and Size, With a Checklist
11. Illustrative Scenario (Hypothetical, Not a Real Client)
12. How Knit's EOR Service Handles This
13. Frequently Asked Questions
14. Glossary of Key Terms
15. About Knit
16. Related Reading

1. Start With the Team You Are Building, Not the Country

Most "country versus country" articles rank locations on a single axis, usually price. That framing fails for a first offshore team because the employer's real exposure sits in the details: which contributions are mandatory, who has to register where, how a termination is documented, and what happens if the law changes mid-year. This article compares the Philippines, Malaysia and India on those employer-side factors only.

Three limits apply. First, it does not state salaries or talent-pool statistics, because those need current official or well-sourced survey data and change by role and city. Second, it does not call any country the cheapest or the best. A country can carry a higher statutory on-cost and still be the right choice for a given team. Third, every rate quoted here carries the page it came from and, where the page shows one, its effective date. Where an official page would not load or gave no figure, the text says so and points you to the agency rather than guessing.

The typical reader is a company with no entity in Asia that wants a first team of roughly 3 to 30 people in customer support, software engineering or finance back office. The same logic holds for smaller or larger teams, but the entity-versus-EOR math shifts with headcount. Knit's article on EOR versus entity setup cost math covers that break-even logic in depth, so this piece stays on the country comparison.

2. Three Ways to Employ in Asia Without an Existing Presence

You have three legal routes, and the choice affects every other section of this article.

Employer of record (EOR). The EOR is the legal employer in the country. It issues the local employment contract, runs payroll, files and pays statutory contributions, and handles termination procedure, while you direct the daily work. If you are new to the model, Knit's explainer on what an employer of record is walks through responsibilities and limits. An EOR is not the same as a PEO, a point covered in Knit's PEO vs EOR guide.

Local entity. You incorporate a subsidiary or branch, register it with the relevant tax, social security and labor authorities, open a bank account, hire directly and carry the compliance calendar yourself. This route gives the most control and the most fixed overhead. Registration for a foreign-owned company usually involves company registration, tax registration, social security employer registration and, depending on the country and sector, foreign investment or business license steps. Timelines and thresholds vary by country and by business type, so confirm them with local counsel before you plan a launch date around them.

Independent contractor. You contract with an individual or a small firm that invoices you. This works for truly independent specialists and fails for people who work set hours, use your tools, report to your managers and could not realistically work for others. A misclassified contractor can create back contributions, penalties and a claim to employee protections. Knit's piece on hiring a foreign independent contractor covers the classification risk, with a focus on US and Canadian rules; the local tests in the Philippines, Malaysia and India need local confirmation.

Foreign-company tax registration at a high level. Having employees in a country can create tax presence questions for the hiring company, including corporate tax exposure and payroll withholding duties. The risk depends on what the employees do, whether they can conclude contracts for you, and the tax treaty between your home country and the host country. Even when you use an EOR, the activities of your team can still raise a permanent establishment question for your company. No fetched official page resolves that question for a specific business, so this is a point for your tax advisor. The right order is: decide the team's function, ask your tax advisor about presence, then pick the employment route.

3. The Philippines: What an Employer Pays and Owes

Social Security System (SSS). The SSS page on contribution rates states a total rate of 15% of the monthly salary credit (MSC), with the employer paying 10% and the employee 5%, effective January 1, 2025. The page describes the contribution ceiling as an MSC not exceeding P35,000. At the ceiling, the employer share is therefore P3,500 per month (10% of P35,000, our arithmetic). The Social Security System's contribution explainer also notes that the figures may be updated, and that the downloadable contribution table is the authority for bracket-level amounts. It does not state a general minimum MSC for contribution purposes, so check the table for lower-wage employees. Separate employer-only contributions for employees' compensation may also apply; this page does not address them, so confirm with SSS.

PhilHealth. A Philippine Information Agency report on the PhilHealth advisory of May 6, 2026 states that the premium remains at 5% of monthly basic income for 2026, with a P10,000 income floor (a fixed P500 premium) and a P100,000 ceiling (a maximum P5,000 premium), and that for employed members the premium is shared equally between employee and employer. Read the Philippine Information Agency's PhilHealth 2026 report for that detail. The employer share is therefore 2.5%, up to P2,500 per month at the ceiling. PhilHealth's own premium schedule for 2019 to 2025 shows the same 5% rate and P100,000 ceiling for 2024 and 2025, though that page does not state the employer and employee split.

Pag-IBIG (Home Development Mutual Fund). The Philippine Information Agency reported that, from February 2024, Pag-IBIG contributions are 2% of the monthly fund salary, with the maximum fund salary raised to P10,000, which makes the employer contribution P200 per month at the cap. See the Philippine Information Agency's Pag-IBIG report. That is a February 2024 news item, not a current rate table, so confirm the cap with Pag-IBIG before you build payroll around it.

13th-month pay. The Department of Labor and Employment's Bureau of Working Conditions handbook states that rank-and-file employees who worked at least one month in a calendar year are owed 13th-month pay, computed as total basic salary earned in the year divided by 12, payable not later than December 24. The DOLE Workers' Statutory Monetary Benefits Handbook (2024 edition) is the source. This is not a bonus you can drop in a bad year. It adds about one-twelfth to annual basic pay, and you should budget it from the first month.

What the Philippines does not add. There is no statutory end-of-service gratuity comparable to India's; separation pay arises mainly on authorized-cause terminations, covered in section 7. For Knit's employer-side view of the Philippine hiring process, see the Philippines EOR guide, and for pay context see the Knit overview of salaries in the Philippines, which was written for 2024 and should be checked for currency.

4. Malaysia: What an Employer Pays and Owes

Malaysian employer cost depends on one question before any rate: is the employee a Malaysian citizen or permanent resident, or a foreign national? The rules differ.

EPF (Employees Provident Fund, KWSP). For Malaysian citizens, permanent residents and certain pre-1998 registrants under age 60, the employer rate is 13% of monthly wages at RM5,000 and below and 12% above RM5,000, with the employee paying 11%, per the EPF employer mandatory contribution page (Third Schedule as of October 2025 salary). The page notes that bands apply up to RM20,000, that totals round up to the next ringgit, and that payment is due by the 15th of the following month. Foreign nationals fall under a different rule: the EPF page for non-Malaysian citizen employees says mandatory contributions started with the October 2025 salary, at 2% from the employer and 2% from the employee for standard cases. Older guides, including a Malaysian investment agency page last modified in 2020, say foreign workers are exempt. That is outdated, and it shows why dated secondary pages are risky for payroll setup.

SOCSO (PERKESO) and EIS. The PERKESO employer contributions page states that for employees under 60 in the first category (employment injury plus invalidity), the employer pays 1.75% and the employee 0.5%. The Employment Insurance System (EIS) is 0.2% each for employer and employee, for employees aged 18 to 60, capped at an assumed monthly salary of RM6,000. PERKESO's contribution rate page states that from 1 October 2024 the wage ceiling for contributions moved from RM5,000 to RM6,000 per month. PERKESO's page for foreign workers was not part of what we reviewed, so confirm how SOCSO and EIS apply to a foreign national before hiring one.

Other employer duties. Malaysia may also apply a human resources development levy to some employers, and a national minimum wage order applies. We could not confirm the levy's current terms on an official page in this session, so ask the Human Resources Development Corporation or your advisor whether it applies to your headcount and sector. Knit's Malaysia EOR guide is a good orientation, but it is a marketing guide and its figures should be checked against the agency pages above.

5. India: What an Employer Pays and Owes, and Where the Labour Codes Stand

India needs the most careful reading because the legal framework changed recently and is still being implemented.

The four labour codes, verified status. A Ministry of Labour and Employment release dated 21 November 2025 states that the four codes (Wages, Industrial Relations, Social Security, and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions) took effect that day, consolidating 29 central labour laws. Read the Ministry of Labour and Employment's announcement for the headline provisions: written appointment letters, a national floor wage, salary release by the 7th of the month in IT and ITES, and gratuity eligibility for fixed-term employees after one year. The Ministry's FAQ, current as of 16 March 2026, says gratuity and the new wage definition apply from 21 November 2025, and that old rules stay in force until new rules are finally notified, so employers may run old and new requirements side by side in the interim. See the Ministry's additional FAQs on the labour codes.

What is not settled. The Ministry's 2025-26 annual report says draft central rules for all four codes were pre-published on 30 December 2025 for comments and, in the excerpt we read, does not confirm final notification. A non-government law-firm summary dated May 2026 reports that final central rules were notified on 8 May 2026. We could not confirm that on an official page in this session, so treat final-rules status as something to verify in the Gazette and on the Ministry's site. Labour is also a concurrent subject, so state rules and state shops-and-establishments laws still matter.

Provident fund (EPF). The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's FAQ states that the employer pays 12% of pay, of which 8.33% goes to the pension fund and 3.67% to the EPF, plus 0.5% of pay to the EDLI insurance scheme. That page still describes a wage ceiling of Rs 15,000, and it carries older text, so do not use it for the ceiling. A Ministry of Labour release dated 16 September 2026 states that the Union Cabinet approved raising the EPFO wage ceiling from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 per month, effective 17 September 2026. See the EPFO FAQ for the rates and the Ministry's wage ceiling release for the new ceiling. Confirm how EPFO applies the change to your payroll in its implementing notification.

Employees' State Insurance (ESI). The Employees' State Insurance Corporation states that the employer rate is 3.25% of wages and the employee rate is 0.75%, effective 1 July 2019, on its contribution page. Its coverage page gives a wage limit of Rs 21,000 per month (Rs 25,000 for persons with disability) and says the Act applies to non-seasonal factories with 10 or more persons, with some states and the central government extending coverage to other establishments. In practice, ESI mainly reaches lower-paid staff, so a higher-paid engineering team may sit above it while a support team may not.

Gratuity. The Ministry's compliance handbook for employers states that regular employees need five years of service for gratuity at 15 days' wages per completed year, and that fixed-term employees are eligible after one year. The Ministry's FAQ adds a maximum, which it describes as currently Rs 20 lakh. This creates an accrual that employers in the Philippines and Malaysia do not carry in the same form. The Compliance Handbook for Employers Under the Four Labour Codes also describes a wage definition under which certain allowances above 50% of total pay are added back to wages, which can raise the base for contributions and gratuity.

For Knit's India-specific hiring detail, use Knit's country hub at global hiring guides.

6. Side-by-Side Table of Employer On-Costs

The table maps the main statutory employer costs. Percentages are employer-side only and are as of October 2026 per the pages cited above. "Cap" means the ceiling for the contribution base.

Treat the table as a map, not a budget. Three cautions apply.

First, caps change the picture at different pay levels. In the Philippines, SSS and PhilHealth reach their employer maximum at relatively high pay, so the percentage of salary falls as pay rises. In Malaysia, EPF has no ceiling in the bands we saw, while SOCSO and EIS stop at RM6,000. In India, EPF and ESI have ceilings, and gratuity grows with wages. The same salary can therefore produce quite different on-cost percentages in each country.

Second, an on-cost percentage is not a total cost. Office space, equipment, recruiting, benefits above the statutory floor, local taxes and your service provider's fees all sit outside this table.

Third, a statutory rate is only a first filter. Which country suits a team depends on skills, time zones, customer markets and management capacity as much as on contributions.

7. Leave, Probation, Notice, Termination and Minimum Wage Compared

Philippines. The DOLE handbook gives separation pay of one-half month per year of service for retrenchment and closure not due to serious losses, with a one-month minimum, and one month per year for labor-saving devices and redundancy, with a six-month partial year counted as a full year. The employer serves written notice on the employee and DOLE at least one month before the intended date. Maternity leave is 105 days with full pay for live childbirth, subject to SSS contribution conditions, and service incentive leave is five days after one year. The same DOLE handbook is the source. We could not load DOLE's Labor Code Book VI page, so we do not state the probation period or the just-cause rules as verified. Confirm them with Philippine counsel, because dismissals for just cause or authorized cause carry strict procedure.

Malaysia. A Malaysian government employment portal lists annual leave, sick leave, hospitalisation leave and the 45-hour week under the Employment Act. See the MyGovernment employee rights page, which shows a last-updated date of 15 September 2026 and notes that Sabah and Sarawak run their own labour ordinances. An article on the Ministry of Human Resources industrial relations site states the section 12 notice periods that apply when a contract has no written notice term: four weeks under two years of service, six weeks for two to under five years, and eight weeks for five years or more. It also reports that, under Industrial Relations Act case law, a no-reason termination on notice may still be challenged. See the Ministry's note on giving notice of termination, which is a secondary summary, so confirm it with counsel. Several Malaysian labour department pages block automated access, so we could not read the Employment Act text itself in this session.

India. The Ministry's compliance handbook gives one month's notice for retrenchment in establishments of 50 to 299 workers and three months for 300 or more, and says final wages are due within two working days of exit. These are statements about the Codes as drafted in the handbook; check them against the notified rules and state law for your location. For the first team, the practical point is that appointment letters are now a listed duty, so contracts need a proper template and not an email offer.

Minimum wage structure. The table above covers leave and termination; pay floors work differently in each country.

Philippines, minimum wage. Minimum wages are set region by region through wage orders, not nationally. The National Wages and Productivity Commission's National Capital Region page lists Wage Order NCR-28, effective 26 September 2026, with a non-agriculture rate of P755 per day, and a separate domestic worker order. The same page notes continuing litigation affecting the earlier order NCR-27, so tranche timing may change. See the NWPC page for the National Capital Region and confirm the rate for the region where your employees sit.

Malaysia, minimum wage. A national minimum wage order applies, and the employment act page on the government portal states that employees must receive the minimum wage set by government. We could not load an official page with the current figure, so confirm the amount, any coverage rules by employer size and the treatment of foreign workers with the Ministry of Human Resources. Most professional roles sit above a statutory floor, but it still matters for entry-level support hires and for how you describe pay in contracts.

India, minimum wage. The Ministry's November 2025 release describes a national floor wage under the Wages code, and the handbook says minimum wages are fixed by the appropriate government. The Ministry's FAQ says minimum wages differ from the Code's definition of "wages." In practice, expect state-level and sector-level minimums, and test your salary structure against the 50% allowance rule before you issue offers.

Pay conventions. The Philippines adds the 13th-month payment to the annual cost. India's gratuity and the wage-definition rule affect how you design pay components. Malaysia's variable rates (13% versus 12%, citizen versus foreign) mean the employee's status affects payroll setup. For all three countries, cost data on pay levels should come from current sources for your role and city, not from a country-level average.

8. Risk Areas: Misclassification, Data, IP and Language

Two notes on the table. The data protection row names the topic rather than the rule because we did not fetch the statutes. The Philippines, Malaysia and India each have a national personal data law, and cross-border transfer and breach-notification duties vary, so ask counsel for a short written summary before you give a support team access to customer personal data. For IP, the safe default in all three countries is a written assignment in the employment contract, reviewed locally, because default rules on employee-created work can differ from US assumptions.

On language, do not assume. A support team serving customers in one language needs that language tested at hire, whatever the country. An engineering team that works in English with your headquarters may need none. Finance back-office staff may need local-language fluency for tax and bank documents even when the team reports in English.

9. Scorecard: Qualitative Ratings, Explained

This scorecard does not rank the countries. Each row describes a type of employer exposure and says what drives it. "Lower," "Moderate" and "Higher" describe the amount of employer-side attention needed, not the quality of the country.

How to use it: pick the two or three rows that matter most for your team and read the "why" column. A finance back-office team, for example, may care most about rate predictability and entity burden, while a support team may care most about termination formality and the number of agencies. A "Higher" rating is a reason to budget advisor time, not a reason to avoid a country.

10. Decision Guide by Team Type and Size, With a Checklist

Checklist before you pick a country:

1. Write down the team's function, size in year one and year three, and shift pattern.
2. List the roles that will have access to customer personal data or source code.
3. Decide whether any role could be a true independent contractor. If the person works set hours under your direction, plan for employment.
4. Ask your tax advisor about permanent establishment risk for your company in each candidate country.
5. Confirm whether the employees will be citizens or foreign nationals, especially for Malaysia.
6. Get written current rates from each agency, with effective dates, for any payroll model.
7. For India, ask counsel for the status of the central and state rules for your state.
8. For the Philippines, add the 13th-month payment and the region's minimum wage to your model.
9. Set a review date (for example, after six months) to decide whether to stay on an EOR or form an entity.
10. Ask your provider how local legal changes are communicated, in writing, before you sign.

Singapore sometimes comes up as a regional hub for management or finance oversight, since a small senior team there can supervise work in other countries. That is a separate decision with its own employer costs; Knit's Singapore EOR guide covers it.

11. Illustrative Scenario (Hypothetical, Not a Real Client)

Illustrative scenario (hypothetical, not a real client). Company X is a US software company with 150 employees and no Asian presence. Its leadership wants a first offshore team of 12: six customer support agents, four engineers and two finance back-office staff. The goal is to have the team working within a quarter, with the option to grow.

Assumptions for the example. These numbers are invented for the illustration only and are not salary benchmarks. Employee A is a support agent in the Philippines with monthly basic pay of P30,000. Employee B is an engineer in Malaysia, a Malaysian citizen under 60, with monthly wages of RM8,000. Employee C is a finance specialist in India with monthly wages of Rs 20,000 under the Wages code definition. We apply only the rates verified above and ignore taxes, bonuses and provider fees.

Notes: SSS applies to an MSC rounded to a bracket, so P3,000 is approximate. PERKESO uses a wage-band schedule, so SOCSO and EIS are approximate. In India, the ESI wage limit is Rs 21,000, so Employee C is covered only because wages sit below it; a higher-paid colleague would not be. If Employee C earned Rs 60,000, EPF would apply on the wage ceiling, which Ministry material says is Rs 25,000 from 17 September 2026, and ESI would not apply.

What the numbers do and do not tell Company X. They show that statutory mix differs, not that any country is cheaper. Employee A's percentage is highest because three agencies contribute and the 13th-month payment adds one-twelfth of basic pay, but it also reflects the low assumed pay, and the SSS employer share is capped. If Employee A earned much more, the capped contributions would shrink as a share of pay. Employee B's percentage looks lower, but a foreign national in the same role would follow different EPF rules. Employee C's percentage depends on pay level relative to two ceilings and on the 50% wage rule.

What Company X might decide. Instead of choosing one country, Company X could place the six support agents where its language and hours needs are best met, the four engineers where IP and data controls are easiest to enforce, and the two finance staff where its tax advisor is comfortable with presence risk. It could start on an EOR in each country and set a six-month review. It would add the 13th-month payment to its Philippine budget, confirm India's rule status with counsel, and have all three contracts reviewed locally. None of this requires naming a best country; it requires matching exposure to function.

12. How Knit's EOR Service Handles This

Knit People is a global provider of Employer of Record, PEO, Global Payroll and Contractor of Record services, founded in Canada in 2015. Under an EOR arrangement, the EOR is the employer of record: it issues the local employment contract, runs payroll, files and pays statutory contributions, and administers the termination process, while you manage day-to-day work. Knit also offers related services including headhunting and recruitment, background checks, entity registration, global tax, insurance and work visa support, which matter when a team grows past the point where an EOR alone fits.

For a first offshore team, the practical benefit of an EOR is speed and a defined compliance owner while you learn a market. The practical limit is that the EOR does not remove your own decisions: you still choose the role, the manager, the data access, the work product and, with your tax advisor, the question of your company's tax presence. Knit does not publish pricing or service timelines in this article, so ask for a written scope for each country you consider, including who handles agency registrations, how rate changes are applied and how terminations are handled.

You can see how the service is described on Knit's employer of record services page, or ask a question through the Knit contact page.

13. Frequently Asked Questions

1. Which country is best for a first offshore team?

‍None is best in the abstract. The better fit depends on team function, language, hours, data and IP needs, and how much employer-side complexity you can manage. This article compares exposure, not quality. Use the scorecard and checklist to match your team to the countries, and have local counsel confirm any rate before you build a budget.

2. Can I hire in these countries without a local entity?

‍Yes, through an employer of record, which employs the person locally on your behalf. You can also use independent contractors, but only for truly independent work. If the person works set hours under your direction, plan for employment. The choice affects contributions, termination rights and, separately, your own tax presence, so confirm it with advisors.

3. What is the biggest cost item people miss in the Philippines?

‍The 13th-month payment. The DOLE handbook says rank-and-file employees who worked at least one month in a calendar year are owed one-twelfth of basic salary earned, paid by December 24. It adds roughly 8.3% to annual basic pay, and employers who budget only monthly salary often forget it until late in the year.

4. How different are Malaysia's employer contributions for foreign employees?

‍Quite different. EPF's page says mandatory contributions for most non-citizen employees began with the October 2025 salary at 2% from the employer, while citizens and permanent residents follow a 13% or 12% schedule. SOCSO and EIS treatment for foreign nationals needs separate confirmation with PERKESO before you hire.

5. What is the status of India's labour codes as of October 2026?

‍The four codes took effect on 21 November 2025, according to the Ministry of Labour and Employment. The Ministry's materials we read show central rules pre-published in draft on 30 December 2025, and a non-government source reports final central rules in May 2026, which we could not confirm officially. Check the Gazette, the Ministry site and your state's position.

6. Did India change its EPF wage ceiling?

‍Yes, according to a Ministry of Labour release. The Union Cabinet approved raising it from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 per month on 16 September 2026, effective 17 September 2026. The EPFO FAQ page still shows older text, so ask EPFO or your payroll provider how the change applies to your employees before you finalize payroll settings.

7. Is gratuity a cost in the Philippines or Malaysia?

‍Not as a gratuity of the Indian type, based on the pages reviewed. The Philippines has separation pay on authorized-cause terminations, and Malaysia has termination and lay-off benefit regulations. India's gratuity is 15 days' wages per completed year for regular staff after five years, or after one year for fixed-term staff, under the Ministry's handbook.

8. How much notice do I need to end employment?

‍It depends on country, cause and contract. In the Philippines, authorized-cause terminations need written notice to the employee and DOLE at least one month ahead. In Malaysia, a Ministry article says that without a written clause the notice is four, six or eight weeks by service length. India varies by cause and state. Get counsel before any termination.

9. Does using an EOR remove my tax risk?

‍Not entirely. An EOR handles employer payroll and filings, but your team's activities can still raise a question about whether your company has a taxable presence in the country. That depends on what employees do and on tax treaties. Ask your tax advisor before you hire, and revisit the question as the team grows.

10. Where can I check current rates myself?

‍Use the agency pages: SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG for the Philippines; KWSP and PERKESO for Malaysia; EPFO, ESIC and the Ministry of Labour and Employment for India. Always note the effective date. Rates in this article are as of October 2026 and can change without notice.

14. Glossary of Key Terms

• EOR (employer of record): a provider that legally employs workers in a country on behalf of a foreign company, running payroll and compliance.
• Entity: a local subsidiary or branch your company registers to employ and operate in the country.
• Independent contractor: a self-employed person engaged by contract; misclassification occurs when the relationship works like employment.
• SSS: the Philippines' Social Security System, which collects pension-type contributions based on a monthly salary credit.
• PhilHealth: the Philippine national health insurer; premiums are shared equally for employed members.
• Pag-IBIG: the Philippine Home Development Mutual Fund, a savings and housing fund.
• 13th-month pay: a mandatory Philippine year-end payment of one-twelfth of basic salary earned in the year.
• EPF/KWSP: Malaysia's Employees Provident Fund, a retirement savings scheme with employer and employee shares.
• SOCSO/PERKESO: Malaysia's social security organization, covering employment injury and invalidity.
• EIS: Malaysia's Employment Insurance System, a job-loss protection scheme.
• EPFO and EDLI: India's provident fund organization and its employer-funded deposit-linked insurance scheme.
• ESI/ESIC: India's Employees' State Insurance scheme and the corporation that runs it.
• Gratuity: an Indian end-of-service payment calculated on completed years of service.
• Labour codes: the four Indian codes (Wages, Industrial Relations, Social Security, Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions) that consolidate 29 central laws.
• Permanent establishment: a tax concept describing when a foreign company's activities create a taxable presence in a country.

15. About Knit

Knit People is a global Employer of Record, PEO, Global Payroll and Contractor of Record provider founded in Canada in 2015, with about 11 years of experience, more than 4,000 clients, coverage across 172 countries and regions, over USD 600 million in annual payroll processed, 60+ owned entities, a China operations hub in Shenzhen and MSB license No. M23187879. To discuss a multi-country team, use the Knit contact page or read about the employer of record services.

16. Related Reading

• Employer of Record in the Philippines
• Employer of Record in Malaysia
• EOR vs setting up a foreign entity: the cost math
• Hiring a foreign independent contractor
• PEO vs EOR: a guide to choosing
• Global hiring guides

This article is general educational information as of October 2026 and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Contribution rates, wage ceilings, leave rules and labour-law implementation in the Philippines, Malaysia and India change often, vary by region, employee status and employer size, and may be interpreted differently by each agency. Indian labour-code rules and state positions were still being finalized at the time of writing. Confirm every figure with the relevant agency, Knit's local team or licensed local counsel and tax advisors before hiring, setting payroll, classifying workers or ending employment.