TCS receives notice over 'unfair' employee transfer practices; company 'stops giving salaries'

Maharashtra’s labour department has issued a notice to Indian technology giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) over 'unfair' employee transfer practices.

The notices follow a complaint by the Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), representing IT workers. NITES alleges that TCS transferred over 2,000 employees to different cities without proper consultation, causing hardship for employees and their families.

Allegations of unethical practices 

Harpreet Singh Saluja, President of NITES, claims that TCS threatened employees with disciplinary actions if they failed to comply with the transfer orders. Furthermore, he accuses the company of unethically stopping the salaries of those opposing these transfers.

“The company (TCS) had threatened the employees that failure to comply with the transfer directions would result in disciplinary actions. The company now has unethically stopped the salary of employees, who are opposing these forced transfers. NITES strongly condemns the illegal tactics of TCS forcing employees either to accept the forced transfers or resign from the job,” said Harpreet Singh Saluja, President of NITES.

According to a Moneycontrol report, the company's Mumbai HR department sent an email to its employees, directing them to report to the Mumbai branch within 14 days to complete the transfer process.

Government intervention 

According to media reports, The Maharashtra State Government Labour Department has now scheduled a meeting on January 18, 2024, for TCS executives to address these issues. NITES said that it had earlier filed a complaint with Maharashtra’s Ministry of Labour and Employment, leading to this government intervention.

TCS's employee management

This is not the first time TCS faced scrutiny over its employee management practices. In July 2023, NITES filed a complaint regarding the delayed onboarding of lateral recruits. TCS, along with other IT firms, had also been among the first to mandate a return to office post-pandemic.

While the company has yet to respond to these reports, the development comes as it prepares to announce its financial results for the third quarter of the financial year 2023-24 on January 11.

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