Salary Certificate is a verification document issued to an employee by an employer to declare his salary received from his employment. It is issued by an authorized person of an organization on the letterhead of the organization. It signifies an association of the employees with that organization and covers all the material information with respect to the particulars forming part of the salary such as Basic Pay, House Rent Allowance, and other allowances and perquisites.

Elements of the Salary Certificate

The contents of the salary certificate may vary from organization to organization and hence below mention list is only indicative and not exhaustive in nature. It may contain additional details other than the details mentioned below.

Name of the employee along with the employee code.
Date of birth and address of the employee.
Name of the organization.
Date of joining the organization.
Department and present designation in the company.
Basic Pay, Dearness Allowance, House Rent Allowance, Other Allowances etc.
Deductions i.e. Employee Provident Fund Contribution, ESIC deductions, Insurance, Loans etc.

Uses of Salary Certificate

Acts as a document proof regarding employment in the particular organization.
Details regarding various perquisites given in the form of salary which are treated to be a part of the salary.
Banks may demand salary certificate as a document with respect to issuance of loans. In such case, certified true copy of around 6 months are required. So, you must ensure that only salary credit is not enough, you should ensure that even all the salary sheets are properly collected and filed by you.
Sometimes, a lot of deductions, which can be statutory or not, are made from the salaries of the employees. In order to get the specific details of such deductions and to arrive at the salary we received in our bank account, we need to know about all the deductions.
Also, sometimes the companies make a lot of deductions from our salary advances, or they add unnecessary perks to it, like food coupons, etc., which we may not necessary avail. We can find out these details through our salary sheet.

Difference between salary certificate and salary slip

Often the two terms salary certificate and salary slip sound similar, but they are different terms. The basic point of differentiation is the time frame. Salary slip is issued for a month, say March 2020 whereas salary certificate may be issued for a specific period which may be as required or a full financial year or the required period. It can be your entire tenure in the company also.