India’s largest information technology services companies are nudging employees back to work in the office. The latest is LTIMindtree Ltd, which has linked employee leave with its return-to-office mandate.
An employee who does not come to the office for four days when they are supposed to will lose a day’s leave, according to the company’s work-from-office policy effective 1 September. Mint has reviewed the company’s policy.
According to the policy named “Rhythm,” employees are categorised into three sections – those who have to work from the office five days a week, those who work at client office locations, and those with a hybrid work setup who have to work from an LTIMindtree location for at least two days a week. Employees are mapped into these categories based on the nature of the work and business requirements. The allocations are not permanent.
Employees who are required to work from an office location must be present at the workplace for a minimum of six hours, according to the updated policy notified to employees last month. The management has capped leave deduction to 1.5 days per month.
Mint could not ascertain whether absence from office would result in deduction of paid leave or be considered unpaid leave, in which case salaries would be cut. Continuous cases of non-compliance would lead to stricter disciplinary action, according to the policy.
Employees did not appear to be unduly concerned by the latest nudge from the Mumbai-based IT services company.
“It isn’t unfair. If we are required to be in office just twice a week, that too for only six hours a day, there is no harm,” an employee in the hybrid category told Mint on condition of anonymity.
No material change
Another employee said there was no material policy change except that it was now reinforced on paper.
“This move to cancel leave is only for those employees who have compulsively been missing work from the office. To us, there is no such change because we have had our return-to-office mandates clear from before,” the second employee said.
LTIMindtree had 81,934 employees in the three months ended June 2024. Most of its employees are based in India.
“Although the current trend among IT services companies reflects a shift towards a hybrid work model, many employees are expressing a strong preference for not returning to the office full time, prompting organisations to adapt their policies accordingly,” said Sunil Chemmankottil, India country manager at Adecco, a global workforce solutions company. “Attempts by some companies to enforce a full-time office presence have led to a noticeable increase in mass attrition, with rates rising to 15-20%.”
IT services companies in the country have been asking their employees to return to the office, either for the entire week or on certain days, after the Covid pandemic forced them to operate online, with their employees working remotely. Most IT services companies have now adopted a hybrid work policy requiring employees to be present at their base locations on some days and work remotely on certain days.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, India’s largest IT services company, has linked the variable pay component of its staff to office attendance, asking employees to work from office for five days a week. Infosys, the second-largest IT services company, has taken a softer stance, having adopted a hybrid work model. Some IT outsourcing companies have opened centres in smaller towns so that employees can work closer to their homes.
“We have been continuing our hybrid working model across all locations that allow for our employees to find a work-life balance, which in turn supports and encourages higher productivity,” an LTIMindtree spokesperson said in an emailed response to Mint‘s queries.
