TCS’ attendance-linked variable pay policy prompts 70% staff to return to office

Close to 70 per cent of employees of IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) returned to office after the company linked variable pay to attendance as part of a new policy, a Moneycontrol report quoted the company’s Chief Human Resource Officer Milind Lakkad as saying.

Lakkad also said the measure is a temporary move from the company, and it needs to be seen that way.

TCS, in April 2023, linked the employees’ quarterly variable pay with their attendance in the office. Employees with less than 60 per cent attendance will not be eligible for the quarter bonus. The new policy of TCS came after the IT services company mandated a five-day work-from-office schedule.

The new policy mandates the employees to maintain a minimum of 85 per cent work attendance in the office to get the quarter bonus. The company has also decided to take disciplinary action in case of non-compliance.

TCS has broken it down into slabs. In case of 75 to 85 per cent work-from-office attendance, the employees will get 75 per cent of their quarterly variable pay. Employees attending office less with attendance between 60 and 75 per cent will get 50 per cent of their variable pay, as per the report.

“Today almost 70 per cent of our employees are back in the office. I am not too much worried about the quantum or number of people not coming to the office and getting affected by this. This number is increasing every week I would say,” Lakkad told the news portal. “I am not worried about that, people are realising the value of coming to office,” he said.

TCS earlier reported that close to 40 per cent of its employees joined during the pandemic and have not worked from the office ever.

On July 11, 2024, TCS reported a 9 per cent rise in net profit to ₹12,040 crore for the first quarter of financial year 2024-25, compared to ₹11,074 crore in the same quarter of the previous year. The company’s board announced an interim dividend of ₹10 per equity share, to be paid on Monday, August 5.