The India Employee Benefits Stack for Maldivian companies

What changes when you come from the Maldives

What you call it in the Maldives, and what it is called in India

A Maldivian employer pays 7% of each local employee's basic salary into the Maldives Retirement Pension Scheme (MRPS), matched by the employee, while the state's Aasandha scheme provides citizens' medical care. Neither carries over as employer cover when staff work in India. Here the provident fund (EPF) takes 12% from each side, whatever the employee's nationality, and health insurance above ₹21,000 a month is a voluntary employer benefit rather than a state entitlement.

Few Maldivian companies run Indian operations: the national airline Maldivian has offices in seven Indian cities, and the hotel group Atmosphere Core has an India office in Bengaluru and hotels in India. More often the reader is an HR or finance lead moving staff between Malé and India, in a Maldivian, Indian or multinational group. This edition maps each Maldivian benefit to its Indian counterpart and flags the assumptions a Malé-based team carries into India.

What Maldivian companies get wrong when they set up in India

None of these is a knowledge gap. Each is a reflex from home, applied to a country that works differently.

1. 01

   What they assume: Staff have Aasandha, so health insurance is optional.

   What India doesAasandha is a state scheme for Maldivian citizens, not employer cover, and it does not extend to Indian colleagues. India's ESI covers only staff earning up to ₹21,000 a month; above that line the employer's statutory health obligation is zero. Group Health Insurance is voluntary, but candidates hired at ₹8 LPA and above expect it.

2. 02

   What they assume: Pension contributions apply only to local staff, as with MRPS.

   What India doesIn India nationality does not matter. Foreign nationals, Maldivians included, are International Workers: they join EPF from day one on full salary, with no ₹15,000 ceiling, at 12% from each side. With no social security agreement, withdrawal is generally possible only at 58 or on permanent incapacity.

3. 03

   What they assume: Thirty days' annual leave is what Indian staff will expect.

   What India doesLeave is set by state Shops and Establishments Acts or the Factories Act: typically 12 to 18 days of earned leave plus casual and sick leave. Public holidays vary by state, with only three national. Copying the Maldivian 30 days into India is generous by Indian law.

4. 04

   What they assume: Sixty days' maternity leave is the benchmark.

   What India doesThe Maternity Benefit Act gives 26 weeks of full pay for the first two children and 12 weeks from the third, paid by the employer (ESI covers it for ESI members). A crèche is required at 50+ employees. There is no statutory paternity leave, unlike the Maldives' three days.

5. 05

   What they assume: There is no long-service lump sum to provide for.

   What India doesThe Maldivian Employment Act has none, but Indian gratuity is statutory in establishments with 10+ employees: 15 days' last drawn salary per year of service after five continuous years, one year for fixed-term staff, capped at ₹20 lakh. Provision it from the first payroll and insure it.

6. 06

   What they assume: A tax treaty will cover short trips to India.

   What India doesIndia and the Maldives have only a limited agreement, on international air transport income, plus a tax information exchange agreement. Neither has an employment article, so no treaty clause exempts short visits. Plan business trips and postings with a tax advisor.

7. 07

   What they assume: The Ramadan allowance has an Indian equivalent.

   What India doesIndian law has no religious or festival allowance. Employees earning up to ₹21,000 a month are owed a statutory bonus of 8.33% to 20%. Any festival bonus above that is contractual, and it counts toward total remuneration under the Labour Codes' 50% test.

The Maldives vs India, benefit by benefit

Benefit	Maldives	India
Statutory health cover	Aasandha: free medical assistance for all Maldivian citizens.	ESI for employees earning up to ₹21,000 a month. Nothing above that line.
Pension	MRPS: 7% employer plus 7% employee on basic salary, for local employees aged 16 to 65.	EPF and EPS: 12% employer plus 12% employee on basic plus DA.
Foreign staff	Outside MRPS, which mandates local employees.	International Workers: EPF from day one on full salary, with no ₹15,000 ceiling.
Access to retirement savings	Pension from 65; early access from 55.	International Workers from non-agreement countries can generally withdraw EPF only at 58 or on permanent incapacity.
Annual leave	30 days after one year of employment.	Earned leave of 12 to 18 days plus casual and sick leave, set by state law.
Sick leave	At least 30 paid days a year.	Set by state law, alongside casual leave.
Maternity	60 days, paid.	26 weeks of full pay for the first two children, paid by the employer.
Paternity	Three days, paid.	No statutory paternity leave under central law.
Festival pay	Ramadan allowance of MVR 3,000 for each Maldivian employee.	No festival allowance in law; statutory bonus of 8.33% to 20% for employees earning up to ₹21,000 a month.
Long-service lump sum	None in the Employment Act.	Gratuity: 15 days' last drawn salary per year after five years, capped at ₹20 lakh.
Work injury	Employer must provide or arrange medical care for injured employees.	Employees' Compensation Act, insured by the employer, or ESI where covered.

What MNCs and GCCs offer their teams in India

From The Standard of Employee Benefits 2026–27, Plum's report on 15,312 benefit plans, 5,20,100 claims and 74,543 checkups from Plum's FY26 book.

• 1.6×MNC and GCC benefits spend per employee in India, against a funded Indian startup (nearly 3× a local Indian business).
• 43%of MNCs and GCCs in India are Holistic Leaders: deep insurance plus real breadth of healthcare beside it.
• ₹7,50,000median MNC/GCC sum insured, covering parents or in-laws, with ₹1,00,000 maternity cover and no copays or sub-limits.
• ~2%of payroll buys India's top-quartile plan, against roughly 15% in the US, 10–25% across Europe and 8–15% across APAC.

Staff seconded from the Maldives

Aasandha is a citizens' scheme run from Malé, not employer cover for an Indian job, so add Maldivian secondees to an India-admitted GHI for cashless treatment at network hospitals. With no India–Maldives social security agreement, a Maldivian national on Indian payroll joins EPF from day one on full salary and can generally withdraw it only at 58 or on permanent incapacity. Agree in writing whether MRPS contributions continue at home.

Where Maldivian companies set up in India

Hospital networks, claim costs and state leave rules differ by city. These are the places Maldivian companies concentrate.

• Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi

  Kerala

  Maldivian has offices in both cities and flies to each from Malé.

• Bengaluru

  Karnataka

  Atmosphere Core's India office, supporting its Indian hotel portfolio; Maldivian also has an office here.

• New Delhi and Mumbai

  Delhi and Maharashtra

  Maldivian offices in both cities; Atmosphere Core launched its Indian hotel portfolio in New Delhi in 2023.

Maldivian companies with operations in India include Maldivian (Island Aviation Services), Atmosphere Core.

Everything else applies to every foreign employer

Statutory benefits, group insurance, tax, leave and CTC work the same whichever country you come from. Each part is covered in full in the India guide.

1. Part 1 – Employee BenefitsWhat employee benefits are legally mandatory in India?These are not optional.
2. Part 2 – Group Health InsuranceGroup health insurance for MNCs in IndiaNone of these are legally required.
3. Part 3 – Business Insurance (Non-EB)What business insurance does a new India entity need?This stack is separate from EB and is often the one India-entry teams leave until last.
4. Part 4 – Beyond InsuranceThe benefits your team will actually noticeInsurance is the foundation, not the programme.
5. Part 5 – Setup StageIn what order should a new India entity buy insurance?The most expensive insurance mistake isn't buying the wrong policy.
6. Part 6 – Sector NotesWhat your sector adds to the universal stackThe policies in Parts 1–3 apply to every MNC.
7. Part 7 – City GuideHow do employee benefit benchmarks differ across Indian cities?The same ₹5L GHI plan means different things in different cities.
8. Part 8 – ChecklistThe pre-operations checklistBefore your India entity goes live, each item below should have a policy number, a renewal date, and a named contact.
9. Part 9 – Tax GuideIs group health insurance taxable for employees in India?India runs two parallel income tax regimes simultaneously, and the tax treatment of almost every benefit differs between them.
10. Part 10 – Leave & PoliciesLeave entitlements and what global MNCs typically add on topIndia's statutory leave framework is state-governed and more fragmented than most MNCs expect.
11. Part 11 – Allowances & CTCHow should an MNC structure India CTC under the new labour codes?India's cost-to-company (CTC) structure is more complex than most countries your payroll team has operated in.

Questions Maldivian HR teams ask about India

More from Plum for Maldivian companies in India

• How MNCs structure health insurance for Indian subsidiariesGlobal programmes, local policies and who signs what.
• Do you need to match headquarters' benefits in India?Where to mirror the parent plan, and where India needs its own design.
• Insurance for expatriate employees in IndiaCovering seconded staff alongside the local plan.
• Group insurance vs ESI: a guide for employersWho must be in ESI, and where group health insurance takes over.
• How to calculate gratuity in IndiaFormulas, worked examples and a free calculator.
• The Standard of Employee Benefits 2026–27Benchmarks from 4,500+ Indian employee health plans.