TCS revises policy, defers hikes for joinees who have completed only a year in service

In a letter to its employees, TCS said, "There has been a recent revision in TCS policy around the first anniversary... The first increment will be at the subsequent annual increment cycle."

TCS logo. (Special Arrangement)

BENGALURU: The country's largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has deferred hikes for its employees who have completed one year.

Accordingly, employees who have completed a year's service on April 1, 2022 or after will not receive a letter or increment on completion of their first year.

In a letter to its employees, TCS said, "There has been a recent revision in TCS policy around the first anniversary... The first increment will be at the subsequent annual increment cycle."

All major IT companies have been facing intense margin pressure and recently Infosys deducted 30% of the average variable pay on margin pressure. Wipro too has held back variable pay. However, TCS said it will payout 100% variable pay for its employees.

The Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) strongly condemned TCS' decision to stop increments and appraisals of the newly joined employees for one year.

"The company is unethically revising the policies related to employees remunerations without any consent from the Labour Ministry. At the time of recruitment, the company promises to pay a definite salary to employees but later amend policies without even talking to employees," said Harpeet Singh Saluja, president NITES.

In a statement to The New Indian Express, TCS said that it always had increments in line with industry benchmarks.

"Even during the pandemic, we ensured our increment cycles were unaffected. It is incorrect to suggest otherwise. All experienced hires will be given an increase as part of the annual salary appraisal that follows their one-year anniversary," TCS said.