Moving ahead of others across the Indian IT corridor, today, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has formally started to suspend the anniversary appraisals of employees who have failed to adhere to its mandatory five-day work-from-office (WFO) policy. This escalation represents a change from "promoting" a return to the office to making physical attendance a non-negotiable prerequisite for financial and career progression.
Indeed, as of January 9, 2026, internal communication reviewed by multiple sources suggested that the tech giant is withholding performance outcomes and a pay increase from some of its workforce, namely the remaining non-compliant workers during the July–September 2025 quarter (Q2 FY26).
The “Banding” Freeze: What It Means for Staff
The appraisal process at TCS is a structured annual cycle commensurate with the employee's work anniversary. Though the supervisor-level evaluations could be completed, the corporate office is now “pausing” the final processing of these reviews for attendance defaulters.
The repercussions of this freeze are two-fold:
- Halted Increases: Staff whose appraisals have been frozen will not receive the normal salary increases made as part of their work anniversary.
- Exclusion From FY26 Banding: Should non-compliance continue into the present quarter, employees face the risk of being excluded from the FY26 performance banding cycle. At TCS, "banding" is the major parameter in the promotion or bonus-setting process; not banding means that an employee's pathway in life never gets any material momentum for the rest of the year.
A Year of Tightening Reins
The move is the end of a year-long push for TCS to bring its 600,000-plus employees back to campus. While many of its counterparts that it rivals in the IT field — Infosys, Wipro, and others in the technology space — have continued with hybrid models that required only 2-3-day office presence as needed, TCS was the first employer to require a five-day work week from the very beginning.
The company has a stringent tracking system in place to ensure compliance:
- Variable Pay Linkage: TCS linked variable pay and slabs of attendance as early as 2024. None was paid on a variable basis at less than 60% of attendance.
- The 9-Hour Rule: Employees must clock at least nine hours in the office as a requirement, not just show up.
- Tight Exception Rule: Employees can take only six "personal emergency" leave days per quarter where there is WFO exception, with no carry forward of unused days.
The Wider Industry Environment
It is the latest news at a time when the Indian IT industry is coping with slower global growth and margin crunch. By tying appraisals to physical presence, TCS seems to be signalling that adherence to its traditional operating model is now as important as being able to hit the technical benchmarks or deliver on time as projects.
Critics say it could result in more top employees leaving the company because they do not look forward to a more dynamic career of high adaptability. Yet management says direct contact and face to face interaction is to maintain the "organizational culture" and to do the best transformational work for the world.
What’s Next for TCS Associates?
Employees in the "appraisal hold" right now have a limited time to regularize their attendance. Without their 5-day regularity in place by the end of the January quarter, the effect on their career "bands" could be a permanent one for the fiscal year.
