TCS HR boss on linking variable pay to work from office: Not to punish employees

TCS linked its quarterly variable pay with attendance owing to which any employee with less than 60% attendance won’t be eligible for the quarterly bonus.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Chief HR Officer Milind Lakkad said that the decision to link employees' variable pay to attendance is a way to foster a return-to-office culture. It is not about punishing employees, he said, explaining that through the move the company is instilling 'the TCS way of doing things'. This comes after TCS linked its quarterly variable pay with attendance owing to which any employee of the company with less than 60 per cent attendance won’t be eligible for the quarterly bonus.

Milind Lakkad, EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announces the Q1 financial results 2024-25 during a press conference, in Mumbai. (PTI)

Milind Lakkad informed during the company’s Q1 earnings conference that nearly 70 percent of the employees are already working from offices.

Talking about the decision, the TCS HR boss told Moneycontrol, “It is about understanding what it means to be with the teams. It is about what it means to be learning from each other, having fun at work, and building relationships at work."

This step was taken as the last measure for employees who have “not yet understood the value of coming to work", he said.

Asserting that this is a temporary measure, he said, “We have come to a point where with just 70% plus number I'm very happy. The point of whether we continue for one quarter, two quarters, three quarters or for the year is something we'll decide. This is not something that we want to do to punish people. This is the last measure we have taken now. The last measure we have taken to basically make sure that people who do not understand or have not yet understood the value of coming to work, they do understand.”