Work from home, lose leaves: HCLTech's new policy sparks debate
HCLTech, India's third-largest software exporter, has implemented a new policy linking employee leaves to office attendance. The policy mandates employees to be present in the office for at least three days a week and 12 days in a month. Failure to meet these conditions will result in leave deductions for each day of absence. This change comes five months after HCLTech adopted a hybrid work model requiring employees to work from the office three days a week.
Employees express concern over new attendance policy
An anonymous HCLTech employee told Moneycontrol that the company's HR department has already begun communicating the new policy via email. The policy is effective immediately and has raised concerns among employees about potential loss of pay once their leaves are exhausted. Currently, employees with less than three years of service are entitled to 18 annual leaves and one personal leave, while those with over three years' tenure receive around 20 annual leaves and two personal leaves.
HCLTech defends new policy amid employee concerns
"Our hybrid work policy provides flexibility where people in middle and senior level management follow any 3-days a week work from office arrangement which supports collaboration," said an HCLTech spokesperson. "All other employees follow the working arrangements as necessary to meet the client commitments and these are planned by the respective managers." The company's CEO and MD, C Vijayakumar, had previously stated that there were no plans to "link variable compensation with bringing people to office."
HCLTech's policy differs from rival TCS's approach
Before HCLTech's move, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) had stirred controversy by tying its quarterly variable pay component to employees' office attendance. TCS now requires a minimum 85% office attendance for employees to be considered for full quarterly variable pay. This strategy has reportedly led to nearly 70% of TCS employees returning to the office. However, HCLTech's chief people officer Ramachandran Sundararajan clarified that variable pay is not a significant cost for the company and is only applicable for junior-level employees.
HCLTech reports profit increase amid new policy implementation
HCLTech has reported a 20% year-on-year increase in net profit to ₹4,257 crore for the June quarter. The company also saw a 6.7% rise in revenue from operations to ₹28,057 crore during the same period. This financial performance comes as the company continues to navigate its transition to a hybrid work model and implement new policies following the Covid pandemic.
