TCS Mandates 225 Billing Days, Caps Bench Time For All Employees

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., in its updated talent deployment policy, has mandated 225 days of billing for all employees, essentially capping the bench time to 35 days in a year.

In the IT services industry, “benching” means that an employee is on the company payroll, but is not assigned or deployed to active client projects or other billable tasks. They are essentially “on the bench” as resources available for new projects. Reducing bench time, and increasing billing hours, are levers to improve margins and utilisation rates.

“At any given point in time, associates must have been allocated for a minimum period of 225 business days in the last 12 months, failing which, necessary due diligence and appropriate management action will be exercised,” an internal company email read.

This comes at a time when growth rate is stagnating and slowing down for the IT industry, due to a complex demand environment with macro factors being uncertain.

TCS’ updated policy came into effect on June 12. The policy also underscores that it is the primary responsibility of the employees to proactively engage with the Resource Management Group to seek allocation, even prior to their release date, and take initiative in pursuing opportunities.

All the freshers, too, are required to be actively deployed. “All new joiners are expected to have an allocation from day-one of joining the organisation. In case of any deviation, such associates should connect with concerned RMG on an immediate basis for guidance,” the mail read.

During the term of employment, an associate's performance and suitability to roles will be continuously evaluated. Given the nature of the role being performed, which may be dependent on customer requirements, associates will need to clear assessments prescribed by the organisation, the policy further noted.

TCS is also discouraging repeated short allocation to different projects, and in such cases an HR enquiry will be conducted. The company warns that if the employees fail to comply with the deployment policy action will be taken.

“In the event of an associate's failure to comply with the provisions of this policy, the organisation reserves the right to take disciplinary action—including cessation of service, as per the organisation's disciplinary action framework,” the mail read.