After five-day work from office, now TCS sends sudden transfer notices

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Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has sent out transfer notices to over 2,000 employees across locations, asking them to join the assigned location within 15 days, according to IT employee union Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES). This comes a month after TCS made it mandatory for employees to work from office five days a week.

According to a few emails seen by Moneycontrol, employees were given a notice of around two weeks to move to the assigned locations. Based on the company policies applicable, employees will be able to reimburse travel and accommodation costs. Employees started receiving these emails from the end of August.

Failing to adhere to this will lead to the employees facing “initiation of disciplinary actions.”

At least 180 outraged employees have sent complaints to NITES, alleging TCS of forcing them to shift “without proper notice or consultation, causing immense hardship for them and their families.” The IT union has now filed a formal complaint with the Ministry of Labour and Employment against TCS for unethical transfer practices.

Harpreet Singh Saluja, President, NITES said, “The company is ignoring all the financial hardship, family disruption, stress and anxiety that these forced transfers cause to employees… TCS is putting its employees through unnecessary hardship and is violating their rights. We have urged the Ministry of Labour and Employment to investigate TCS's actions and take appropriate measures to protect IT workers from such unethical practices.”

A TCS executive seeking anonymity told Moneycontrol that this is a routine movement done on a case-to-case basis, as the company tends to ask required employees to move to certain locations depending on the projects assigned.

“This is especially applicable for the freshers who may have been trained at different locations, but are now getting deployed on actual projects,” the executive added.

The company, however, declined to comment on Moneycontrol’s emailed queries.

Saluja told Moneycontrol that while some employees have agreed and already moved to the locations assigned, around 150-200 employees were still hesitant and in conversation with HR officers of the company regarding their concerns. But once their two-week timeline ended, without any further notices their email access was revoked for not shifting.

“These employees were not able to communicate with the HRs over email anymore. HRs then asked them to report to the assigned locations immediately, else they would stand to lose their salaries and jobs,” he said.

Saluja added, "In fact, the employees who shifted to Mumbai location on 'urgent business' nearly a month ago, are still on bench. They haven't been assigned work yet."

Five days of work from office

This comes over a month after TCS sent out emails asking certain teams to work from office at least five days a week, starting from October 1, 2023.

While the hybrid work transition mandate expecting three days work from office will still be the norm, Moneycontrol’s sources have shared that managers in various divisions have been nudging employees to come in to office five times a week. The company will however retain flexibility/hybrid policies and make exceptions wherever necessary.