Pune-based IT union, the Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), has sent a letter to the labour and employment ministry about its concerns over the new bench policy implemented by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
The policy in question mandates that the associates in TCS are a part of a project for at least 225 days in a year. This means that employees can only avail of a maximum of 35 bench days annually. Effective June 12, 2025, this policy, according to TCS, is part of a time utilisation strategy to balance organisational priorities and individual performance metrics. However, NITES is unhappy with how this might affect employees.
“While on the surface it presents itself as a resource optimisation and engagement strategy, a closer and humane reading reveals that it institutionalises a culture of fear, pressure, and psychological burden on employees who are between projects,” NITES president Harpreet Singh Saluja explained in the letter. “These are not non-performing employees, but skilled professionals who find themselves temporarily without allocation, often due to shifting business priorities, client project changes, or internal inefficiencies that are beyond their control. Instead of support, they are met with suspicion, coercion, and threats.”
NITES apparently wrote the letter after receiving complaints from over 78 employees. In the letter, it went on to add that the new policy “enforces an environment of constant surveillance and control.” The union added that employees are expected to be available at all times, with no room for flexibility. “Even a short period of unavailability is met with veiled threats, warnings, or HR inquiries,” NITES explained.
Saluja also expressed concern over the repercussions that employees might face should they be unable to meet the 225-day quota.
“If they [employees] fail to find an allocation, the burden is again placed on them, not the organisation. There is no accountability for the failure of internal systems, only punishment for employees,” Saluja stated, referring to TCS, stating that failure to meet the number could result in management action.
“Those who are unable to secure allocation are sent repeated emails, forcing them to resign,” NITES elaborated in the letter. “In several disturbing instances, employees have been openly threatened that if they raise grievances, they will not be issued experience letters. Associates have been informed that if they fail to find a project within 35 days, they will either be terminated or pressured to exit. This is not a choice, it is corporate coercion.”
On the flip side, TCS CEO K Krithivasan remains firm in his stance over the policy’s benefits. “While HR supports project placement, we also expect associates to proactively seek new assignments after completing existing ones,” he emphasised. “What you are seeing now is simply a more structured version of what has long been in practice. We aim to minimise bench time.”
