TCS Appraisals Put on Hold as 5-Day Office Attendance Becomes Mandatory

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has intensified its return-to-office push by placing the final anniversary appraisals of certain employees on hold, linking performance outcomes directly to compliance with its five-day work-from-office (WFO) mandate. The move signals a firm shift in the company’s workplace strategy, even as much of India’s IT sector continues to follow hybrid work models.

According to internal communications reviewed by multiple sources, the appraisal freeze applies to employees who failed to meet TCS’s office attendance requirements in earlier quarters of the current financial year. While performance reviews for these employees may have been completed at the managerial level, final approval at the corporate level has been withheld due to non-compliance with attendance norms.

At TCS, anniversary appraisals are part of a structured evaluation cycle, particularly relevant for freshers who complete one year with the company. Upon completion of the appraisal process, eligible employees typically receive confirmation through internal systems. However, under the revised enforcement, attendance compliance has emerged as a decisive condition for appraisals to be formally processed.

Internal emails indicate that employees who did not fulfil WFO requirements up to the second quarter of FY26 (July–September 2025) have been informed that their appraisal outcomes will remain unprocessed until compliance improves. More significantly, continued failure to meet attendance expectations in subsequent quarters could result in employees being excluded from the FY26 performance banding cycle altogether, meaning no band or performance rating would be released for the year.

This marks a notable escalation in TCS’s stance on office attendance. The company now requires employees to work from the office five days a week, positioning itself among the most stringent enforcers of physical workplace presence in the Indian IT industry. In contrast, several peer companies continue to operate with hybrid arrangements that mandate two or three in-office days per week.

TCS has also revised its exception framework to manage genuine cases. Employees can request attendance exemptions for up to six days per quarter under personal emergency provisions, with no carry-forward allowed. Operational issues such as infrastructure limitations can be reported through consolidated exception requests, while network-related disruptions have separate reporting provisions. However, the company has explicitly ruled out bulk exception uploads or backend adjustments, closing avenues that could previously be used to regularise attendance retrospectively.

The linkage between physical attendance and appraisal outcomes represents a broader cultural and operational shift within TCS. Performance evaluations, variable pay, and now even appraisal processing timelines are increasingly being tied to workplace presence rather than output alone. This approach underscores the company’s belief that sustained collaboration, accountability, and organisational culture are best maintained through in-person engagement.

The move has sparked discussion across the IT sector, particularly among employees who had grown accustomed to remote or hybrid work since the pandemic. While TCS has maintained that the policy is essential for long-term organisational efficiency, critics argue that rigid attendance mandates may affect morale and retention in a competitive talent market.

As the industry continues to debate the future of work, TCS’s decision sets a clear precedent: at India’s largest IT services firm, physical presence is no longer optional—it is now a key determinant of career progression.