TCS Reacts After Report Claims Staff Warned Over Work-From-Office Rule

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's leading IT services company, has denied reports that it sent strict warning to employees who are not complying with its return to office policy. In a statement, a TCS spokesperson said that the company has been encouraging employees to work from office for three days a week, but has not "communicated or deployed linkages to career or compensation". The statement was released after Times of India carried a report saying TCS has started sending memos to employees who are not completing at least 12 days of work from office in a month.

The memo warned that disciplinary proceedings will be initiated against employees if they do not adhere to the roster, the TOI report further claimed.

"We are excited to see our campuses buzzing with energy and want all our employees to be a part of that vibrant ecosystem. A significant number of employees have joined TCS in the last two years. It is important for them to experience the TCS environment to collaborate, learn, grow and also have fun together, thus developing a stronger sense of belonging to the organisation and enabling better integration," the company spokesperson told NDTV.

"Over the last several months we have been encouraging associates in India to return to office and spend 3 days a week at the workplace. This has yielded good results with many of our people returning to office. Our objective is to have all associates work from office for at least 3 days a week on average in the month, and towards the same we continue working with all our groups to have everyone participate. For now, we have not communicated or deployed linkages to career or compensation," the spokesperson added.

TCS had said last year that it won't allow employees to work 100 per cent remotely - a scenario necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic. It also sent emails to employees asking them to work from office three days a week.

As per the TCS model of calling employees to office three days a week, not more than 25 per cent of TCS employees will need to work from the office at a given point.

The company had said last year that rostering will be based on project requirements, and a mix of freshers and experienced professionals will be called to the office.

TCS said the process is part of a phased transition from the company's Secure Borderless Workspaces (SBWS) to a more hybrid model which will allow most of its employees to work from the office for some days of the week.