TCS Tweaks Employee Policy To Link Variable Pay To Office Attendance
The new attendance policy comes even as the Tata Group firm has seen its overall headcount decline by 13,794 employees in FY24.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. has rolled out a new employee policy that links quarterly variable pay to physical presence in the office. Those who clock more than 85% attendance will be entitled to full variable pay, while those with 60% or less will get none, according to a note on the internal human resources portal that was updated on April 17.
Consistent non-compliance with the policy could result in disciplinary action, according to company's HR note viewed by NDTV Profit.
At least three 'TCS India Guidelines', including 'WFO Non-Compliance', 'Working Hours' and 'TCS India (BPS) Policy - Working Hours' were revised and published on April 17.
The TCS India Policy Working Hours Policy and the TCS India (BPS) Policy Working Hours defines working hours for the organisation, which every employee is expected to comply with at all times from TCS-designated work premises, according to an internal notification.
"In the recent past, the organisation had taken temporary measures to enable associates to work remotely as an immediate and required response to the global pandemic," as per the notification. "With the social environment returning to normalcy, this has been discontinued and it is expected that all associates ensure their physical presence at the workplace."
The IT services bellwether is not alone in pushing attendance. Infosys Ltd. has asked employees to work from the office at least 11 days in a month. The company rolled out 'Inperson Collab Weeks' recently for its engineering and ‘Internet of Things’ division. Wipro Ltd. wants its staff to be in the workplace at least three times a week, as does Tech Mahindra Ltd. and HCL Technologies Ltd.
Only TCS has so far made office compulsory, effective Oct. 1, 2023.
The new attendance policy comes even as the Tata Group firm has seen its overall headcount decline by 13,794 employees to 6.02 lakh in the last financial year. The attrition rate stood at 12.5% on a trailing 12-month basis. Those on the rolls have received an average increment of 4–7.5%, while outperformers enjoyed double-digit salary hikes.
"The reduced attrition at 12.5%, the enthusiastic response to our campus hiring, and employees returning to office have resulted in great vibrancy in our delivery centres and elevated the morale of our associates," Milind Lakkad, chief human resources officer at TCS, said following the company’s fourth-quarter results.
TCS did not respond to a request for comment by NDTV Profit at the time of publishing this report.